TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Trump-backed Republican nominee for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is facing criticism after he told Fox News that Florida voters shouldn't 'monkey this up' by electing Andrew Gillum.
The video began making it's rounds on Twitter Wednesday morning:
Ron DeSantis to Florida: Don’t "monkey this up" by electing my opponent Andrew Gillum.Andrew Gillum is black.https://t.co/qPLtoSryu6
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 29, 2018
In the clip, DeSantis says that Gillum, though "an articulate spokesman," has "huge problems with how he's governed Tallahassee." He said that the "last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state."
"It's disgusting that Ron DeSantis is launching his general election campaign with racist dog whistles," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo said in a statement.
Stephen Lawson, the communications director for the DeSantis campaign, told CNN that DeSantis was "obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses."
We've reached out to Gillum's camp for comment and are waiting to hear back.
