A Republican Stuck a New Nickname on Florida's Black Gubernatorial Candidate And It Didn't Go Well

[Demovictory9]

A conservative congressman is under fire after rolling out a new nickname for the Democratic candidate in Florida’s governor’s race. At a rally on Saturday for Republican Ron DeSantis, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) criticized crime rates in Tallahassee, where Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum is currently mayor. “Tallahassee is like the murder capital of Florida,” Gaetz yelled into the microphone in front of a small crowd in Cape Coral, Florida. “I don’t know whether to call him Andrew Gillum or Andrew Kill-em.”

If elected, Gillum would be Florida’s first black governor. In August, DeSantis, a former congressman, warned voters not to “monkey this up” by voting for Gillum, a statement many saw as racist.

Florida Democrats were quick to fire back at the latest comments. Terrie Rizzo, the chair of the state’s Democratic Party, called Gaetz’s language “racist and despicable.” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said the name-calling was “just another instance of unacceptable language being weaponized by the DeSantis campaign’s top surrogates.” And Sean Shaw, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, responded by comparing DeSantis to Donald Trump, according to Florida Politics.

Gaetz—a freshman congressman with a reputation for inflammatory stunts, including inviting notorious right-wing troll Charles Johnson to the State of the Union in January—doubled down on Twitter.State Rep. Kionne McGhee tweeted that Gaetz sounded like he was calling for Gillum’s assassination, and challenged Gaetz to back up his claim about Tallahassee’s murder rate.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/10/florida-governor-desantis-gillum-gaetz/

[George II]

1. That Gaetz is a first class sleaze ball.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Calling Andrew Gillum "Andrew Kill-em" would be wrong, and, of course, stupid, Matt Gaetz, you hog.

Rep. Matt Gaetz

[manor321]

3. Republicans don't back down and they don't apologize

He knows exactly who he needs to show up at the polls. It is the old white racists. And those people do actually show up to vote.

[ZZenith]

6. Always a ray of sunshine!

[RockRaven]

4. If you want to demean someone with a nickname, you need to make them seem pathetic, so clearly

Gollum would be a better choice than Killem.

Although I suppose that would necessitate your audience having read a book or remembering a film series now a decade-plus old. Probably too much to ask, given the GOP's opinion of the electorate.

[Corgigal]

5. Shouldn't he be arrested?

He can explain it to the judge.

[OhNo-Really]

7. DeSantis needs to fire Stone. The people are weary of below the belt politics.

[SKKY]

8. Are they? Really?

I ask because from where I sit, that is not the impression that I get.