The Florida GOP took down a Spanish-language ad attacking Andrew Gillum after Democrats castigated them for using an image of him accepting a Pulse ribbon from a shooting victim’s family.

The party, which quickly swapped out the photo in the ad, said the use of the image was inadvertent.

The ad, “Miseria,” claims Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor running against Republican Ron DeSantis, wants to “impose socialist ideas in Florida … None of these ideas have worked in the countries we know well. The Gillum agenda will bring the same results: misery. There is much at stake. The decision is in your hands.”

With the words, “Estas ideas no han functionado” in the background, which translates as “These ideas have not worked,” the original ad used an image of Gillum looking down at his hands.

The image is actually a picture of Gillum being given a Pulse ribbon by the family of Jerry Wright, one of the 49 people who died in the June 2016 Pulse shooting in Orlando, the majority of them Hispanic.

Florida Democratic Party Original picture of Andrew Gillum receiving a Pulse ribbon Original picture of Andrew Gillum receiving a Pulse ribbon (Florida Democratic Party)

On a media call organized by the Florida Democratic Party, Brandon Wolf, a Pulse survivor, called the Florida GOP “soulless and morally bankrupt … I’m sick and tired of [Republicans] using Pulse as a political prop.”

“The ribbon you see in the ad was given to Gillum by Jerry’s sister,” Wolf said. “Let me make this very clear. The photo used in the ad represents the heartache and pain from the burial of a brother and son. The photo was filled with love and the family was filled with class and dignity like Ron DeSantis can’t possibly comprehend.”

State Rep. Amy Mercado, D-Orlando, said the Spanish language ad “was clearly driven and talking to a Spanish audience. This fearmongering has no place in politics.”

The Florida GOP removed the original ad and quickly released a replacement using a different image of Gillum.

“It’s my understanding the image has been swapped and the ad is fixed,” said DeSantis communications director Stephen Lawson.

Meredith Beatrice, spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Florida, said, “There was no intention to be insensitive in any way. … However, we stand by the message of the ad.”

The Gillum campaign also scheduled a press call Tuesday criticizing the ad’s use of the term “socialist.”

While U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a prominent Gillum backer, calls himself a Democratic Socialist, Gillum has not used the term to describe himself and called the use of the term an “inaccurate and a divisive tactic used to fearmonger the countless people in Florida who have fled socialist dictatorships.”

slemongello@orlandosentinel.com, 407-418-5920, @stevelemongello, facebook/stevelemongello