Florida Governor Candidate Andrew Gillum On GOP Opponent Ron DeSantis: ‘The Racists Believe He’s A Racist’

Tallahassee Democratic Mayor Andrew Gillum continued to slam Rep. Ron DeSantis this week, saying his Republican opponent in the state’s gubernatorial race is so compromised by racially charged politics  that even “the racists believe he’s a racist.”

“My grandmother used to say a hit dog will holler and it hollered through this room,” Gillum said of DeSantis. “He’s got Neo-Nazis helping out through this state.”

Gillum was the target of two racist robocalls this week. One of the calls were traced to a white supremacist based in Idaho that has previously targeted other liberal minorities. A minstrel-style African-American voice was used for one of the calls to imitate Gillum while monkey sounds were heard in the background. Anti-Semitic comments were also made and the word “negro” used in one of the robocalls.

Gillum, 39, is hoping to become Florida’s first black governor and is running on a highly progressive agenda.

“I’m not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist,” Gillum added. “I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist.”

DeSantis, an ally of President Donald Trump, famously urged his supporters early in his campaign to not “monkey up” the governor’s race by electing Gillum.

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“I am not going to bow down to the altar of political correctness,” DeSantis said. “I’m not going to let the media smear me.”

The Republican congressman went on to say that he believes Gillum was spouting “nonsense” and that he “always plays the victim.”

DeSantis was also asked in the debate between him and Gillum about his relationship with David Horowitz, a writer who espouses white nationalist and anti-Islamic views.

According to a recent poll from St. Pete Polls, Gillum leads DeSantis by one point in the race.