President Donald Trump dismissed a media-fueled controversy about Florida’s Republican nominee for the governor’s race using the word “monkey” in a media interview.

Referring to the policies of his Democratic socialist challenger, DeSantis said that he wanted to continue the great economy in Florida under Governor Rick Scott.

“The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda,” he said.

DeSantis also described Gillum as “charismatic and articulate” spokesman for “far left views.”

Gillum responded by blaming Trump for the DeSantis comment.

“It’s very clear that Mr. DeSantis is taking a page directly from the campaign manual of Donald Trump. But I think he’s got another thing coming to him,” he said in an interview with Fox News reporter Shepard Smith.

Asked by CNN’s Jim Acosta to respond to the comment, Trump said at the White House that he had not heard it because he was busy negotiating with the Canadians about NAFTA.

Trump said he knew Ron DeSantis and thought that he was “extraordinary.”

“He’s an extreme talent and he will make a fantastic governor of Florida,” Trump said.