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.
Andrew Gillum: "I'm not calling Mr DeSantis a racist. I'm simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist" pic.twitter.com/FIpX8rBQup
— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) October 25, 2018
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.
In Florida there is a choice between a Harvard/Yale educated man named @RonDeSantisFL who has been a great Congressman and will be a great Governor – and a Dem who is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018
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.
On Twitter there is a choice between having the courage to @ the person you are trash talking, or not. @realDonaldTrump is howling because he's weak. Florida, go vote today. https://t.co/I8uOokptJA
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) October 29, 2018
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.