Trump just attacked Andrew Gillum. Gillum’s counterattack ignited a new Twitter beef

Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum’s bid to wrest the Florida Governor’s Mansion from the Republican Party is picking up steam ahead of next week’s elections. Gillum thrashed his Republican opponent Ron DeSantis at a recent debate, proving himself to be an intelligent and tough politician and exposing DeSantis as unready and unable to defend his positions.

Now, Gillum is going right for the jugular of the GOP by taking on Donald Trump. Earlier today, the president tweeted out one of his usual tweets attacking a Democratic politician, and this time it happened to be Gillum. He baselessly accused the gubernatorial candidate of being a “thief” and claimed that he’s done a poor job as Mayor of Tallahassee.

Since it’s Trump, one can’t rule out the likelihood that Trump was engaging in a racist dog whistle, calling Gillum a thief to appeal to the bigots in his electorate who conflate blackness with criminality.

Unlike some who have been targeted by Trump in the past, Gillum hit back quickly. He called out Trump’s lack of courage in his failing to tag or “@” him in his original tweet, meaning that the president’s message wasn’t immediately sent to Gillum and he had to learn of it secondhand.

Gillum added that Trump is “howling because he’s weak” before urging voters to get to the polls. His assessment is spot on. Trump is indeed weak, and his Twitter outbursts are nothing more than the vain thrashings of a man helpless to stop the wave building against him.

Gillum is leading in the polls, and if he is able to win next week the loss of the Florida governorship would be a powerful rebuke of Trump’s administration and the broader Republican Party. Florida voters have a chance to embrace positive change and reject the fearmongering and hatred of the GOP.

Knowing Trump, this won’t be the last time he attacks Gillum on Twitter. And, judging by Gillum’s masterful handling of the situation, this won’t be the last time the Democratic candidate hits back hard.

Click here to donate to Gillum’s campaign.

Natalie Dickinson

Natalie is a staff writer for the Washington Press. She graduated from Oberlin College in 2010 and has been freelance blogging and writing for progressive outlets ever since.