The Republican candidate made the comment about his African American opponent hours after the gubernatorial primary results

Racism immediately became an issue in the Florida governor’s race on Wednesday as both nominees made predictions: the Democrat said voters aren’t looking for a misogynist, racist or bigot, while the Republican said voters shouldn’t “monkey this up” by choosing his African American opponent.

The Tallahassee mayor and victor in the Democratic primary, Andrew Gillum, and Representative Ron DeSantis made it clear the race is going to be a nasty contest between two candidates who couldn’t be more opposed politically.

Florida governor race to pit leftwing Democrat against Trump Republican Read more

Only hours after their primary election victories, DeSantis appeared on Fox News and called Gillum an “articulate” candidate, adding: “The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting this state. That is not going to work. It’s not going to be good for Florida.”

The Florida Democratic party immediately decried DeSantis’s comment as racist. “It’s disgusting that Ron DeSantis is launching his general election campaign with racist dog whistles,” said the party chairwoman, Terry Rizzo, in a statement emailed to reporters.

Later in the day Gillum also appeared on Fox News and said: “I’m not going to get down in the gutter with DeSantis and Trump. There’s enough of that going on.”

Critics had already called the “monkey” remark a dogwhistle for racists. Gillum went further, describing the remark as a “bullhorn” on the issue.

“In the handbook of Donald Trump, they no longer do whistle calls – they’re now using full bullhorns,” he said.

Previously, when asked if he was afraid of Donald Trump’s support for DeSantis, Gillum told CNN that his race is about uniting the state.

“I actually believe that Florida and its rich diversity are going to be looking for a governor who’s going to bring us together, not divide us. Not misogynist, not racist, not bigots, they’re going to be looking for a governor who is going to appeal to our higher aspirations as a state,” Gillum said. “DeSantis can do the bidding of big business and big lobbyists and Donald Trump and his divisive rhetoric.”



Following the “monkey” remark, the DeSantis campaign attempted to clarify in an email that his comments were directed at Gillum’s policies, not the candidate himself. “To characterize it as anything else is absurd,” his spokesman, Stephen Lawson, said.

DeSantis came from behind with the help of Trump to beat the establishment candidate, Adam Putnan.

The governor’s race, in a state sure to be a battleground in the 2020 presidential election, represents something of a referendum on Trump.



