An MSNBC guest slammed Rep. Ron DeSantis Ron DeSantisTrump faces tricky choice on Supreme Court pick DeSantis wants to protect college students from punishment for not following COVID-19 rules Texas governor proposes stiffer penalties for organizing, participating in 'riots' MORE (R) on Wednesday over his comment urging Florida voters not to "monkey this up" by electing Democratic gubernatorial rival Andrew Gillum, saying DeSantis should apologize or drop out.

SiriusXM Progress host Mark Thompson said during an appearance on MSNBC that DeSantis "might as well have just said the N-word" while advising that he "immediately apologize and/or drop out of the race" over the comment.

“When you say monkey in reference to an African-American, he might as well have just said the N-word,” Thompson, who is African-American, told MSNBC's Ali Velshi. “Donald Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE needs to condemn this. DeSantis needs to immediately apologize and/or drop out of the race.”

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“This is absolutely racist and if he gets away with it this time, he’s going to continue to do it,” Thompson added.

DeSantis faced backlash on Wednesday after saying during a Fox News interview that Florida voters should not "monkey this up" by electing Gillum, who won an upset victory in his Democratic primary the previous night.

Gillium, who was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Bernie Sanders: 'This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy' The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome MORE (I-Vt.), would be Florida's first black governor if elected. He is going head-to-head against DeSantis in November to replace Gov. Rick Scott (R), who is running for Senate.

“Let’s build off the success we’ve had on Gov. Scott. The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases bankrupting the state. That is not going to work," DeSantis had said during an appearance on Fox News's "America's Newsroom."

Uh Ron DeSantis just said FL shouldn't "monkey this up" by electing Andrew Gillum pic.twitter.com/nDPp3Hx7zc — Steve Morris (@stevemorris__) August 29, 2018

Fox News anchor Sandra Smith said in a follow-up segment that “we do not condone this language.”

Smith also directed viewers to a statement from DeSantis's campaign, which sought to clarify the Florida Republican's remarks.



“Ron DeSantis was obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses. To characterize it as anything else is absurd," DeSantis communications director Stephen Lawson said in the statement obtained by The Hill.



"Florida’s economy has been on the move for the last eight years and the last thing we need is a far-left democrat trying to stop our success," he added.