The truck came to POLITICO Florida’s attention on Tuesday after a source spotted Anthony Daniel driving on Interstate 4 near Lakeland and snapped a picture. With N-word sign, Florida man could damage Tampa mayor’s gubernatorial hopes — but there’s a twist

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn hasn’t announced his bid for governor yet, but a City Hall gadfly is driving around a large truck bearing an oversize sign with racist imagery and language that could damage the Democrat’s chances if he announces.

“Bob Buckhorn for Florida Governor,” the sign — replete with pictures of Buckhorn and lynched black men as well as a rebel flag and Nazi swastika — reads. “Every Nigger Vote Counts.”


But it gets weirder.

The man who owns the truck and sign, Anthony Daniel, is African-American. And the 64-year-old isn’t just trolling Buckhorn; he’s targeting Home Depot as well. His truck sign, using the store’s logo and trademark orange-stencil font, says “Home Depot or Nigger Depot.”

Daniel refused to say why he’s targeting the company and Buckhorn, a white Democrat who said he has yet to decide whether to run for governor in 2018.

“Anything about that car, you need to talk to Home Depot and call Buckhorn and get a comment on that and see what’s up,” Daniel told POLITICO Florida in a phone conversation. Asked why he’s angry with the two, Daniel laughed: “Angry? I’m smiling right now. Nobody’s angry.”

“I’m a cool dude, bro,” he said.

Buckhorn said he suspects Daniel, a City Hall fixture for almost 30 years, put his picture on the truck sign a few weeks ago in retaliation for the city slapping liens — now totaling $1.6 million — on a property on which he illegally built a house.

“Once he had code enforcement issues, he added my name to the truck a few weeks ago,” Buckhorn said.

Buckhorn said he has recently been getting calls about the racist sign and imagery from confused and sometimes upset constituents.

“Unfortunately, the First Amendment covers bigots of all ethnicities. Fortunately, the people in Tampa know this doesn’t reflect my relationship with the African-American community. But the standards for slander and libel for a public official are high. So there’s nothing I can really do.”

The truck came to POLITICO Florida’s attention on Tuesday after a source spotted Daniel driving on Interstate 4 near Lakeland and snapped a picture.

In September, the Liberal Mountain blog reported about the appearance of the mysterious troll truck and other companies Daniel targeted with incendiary language, swastikas and rebel flags. The blog noted that New York Daily News columnist Shaun King initially wrote about the truck on Facebook but deleted the post.

Buckhorn said Home Depot has a standing trespass order against Daniel, which a company spokesman confirmed.

"We’ve tried reasoning with him to try to understand what his concern with the company is, to no avail,” said Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes. “His tactics are completely inappropriate, and we’re appalled by his use of language.”

Buckhorn, too, said it’s “fairly pointless” trying to talk to Daniel.

“It’s always an interesting journey with him. But it makes no sense,” Buckhorn said. “We’ve had people who have come into City Hall, not knowing he’s African-American, and who see this and want to take him around the corner and administer street justice to him. If it wasn’t so disgusting, it would be funny.”