During Florida’s final gubernatorial debate ahead of the midterm elections, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum confronted his opponent, former GOP congressman Ron DeSantis, about support from racist groups.
“I’m not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist,” Gillum said. “I’m simply saying the racists believe he is a racist.”
During a Fox News interview in August, DeSantis told voters not to “monkey this up” by electing Gillum, which many described as a racist dog whistle. When Wednesday’s moderator, WPBF’s Todd McDermott, began to ask about the comment and positive statements made by DeSantis about conservative activist David Horowitz—who once said, “The country’s only serious race war” is against whites—the former congressman cut him off, saying, “How the hell am I supposed to know every single statement somebody makes?…I’m not going to bow to the altar of political correctness.”
Gillum followed the remarks with, “My grandmother used to say a hit dog will holler and it hollered through this room.”