TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida’s only black candidate for governor sharply criticized U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for using the same bible passage to justify separating migrant children from their parents as slave owners used to justify slavery.

Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum made his remarks Wednesday while flanked by members of the Democratic Black Caucus of Florida.

Gillum said using the bible to justify a “morally bankrupt” policy is “despicable, it’s deplorable, it’s heartless, it’s not who we are as a country.”

Sessions cited Romans 13, saying “obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

Slave owners used the same verse to defend slavery.

Gillum is seeking the office held by Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who can’t run for re-election due to term limits and is running for U.S. Senate instead.

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