DeSantis's questionable claim to Gillum's "socialism" is a blow to Miami's voters

From the time the November poll was set, the Republicans' message on the Democratic candidate for the post of governor, Andrew Gillum, was consistent: Florida can not afford to adopt its "socialist" agenda .

It's a dubious theme, but the GOP insisted that President Donald Trump had labeled the Tallahassee politician a "failed socialist mayor" only hours after Gillum's victory in the Democratic primary. It's a hot topic that Republican Gov. candidate Ron DeSantis and Gov. Rick Scott reiterated Thursday in Orlando and are guaranteed to air until polling day as Gillum claims a minimum wage $ 15, Medicare for all and a 40 percent increase. tax rate to finance education.

(Socialism, by comparison, is a political and economic theory that generally favors government control of the industry.Gillum does not advocate anything similar.)

It is difficult to predict how this characterization of Gillum as a socialist – judged "falsely" Thursday by the PolitiFact fact-checking site – will play in the state. But it is likely that the strategy will target the highly democratic Miami-Dade County, where Republicans are courting hundreds of thousands of exiles who have fled communist and socialist countries in an attempt to prevent Gillum from gaining access to the country. score.

"Socialism would be a disaster for Florida," DeSantis said in Miami on Thursday night, drawing applause from a crowd that gathered Manuel Artime's theater in Little Havana to hear the Conservative MP speak. "We can not let socialist politics win in this free country."

Miami-Dade County is a Democratic stronghold and the August primary voter turnout was the highest in at least a decade, with nearly 300,000 ballots and Gillum garnering nearly 40% of the vote in a competitive area. Democrats, especially those competing, are encouraged by Gillum's ability to elicit unlikely voters in the August primary elections.

But Thursday, DeSantis was explicit about his intention to fight for votes in Miami, where his new running mate, Jeanette Nuñez, Kendall's Cuban-American state representative, should help him greatly. Nuñez appeared with DeSantis Thursday at the Manuel Artime Theater, the same place where Trump announced new diplomatic restrictions on Cuba last year.

DeSantis, who was hosted by the Inspire America Foundation, a group that promotes democracy in Cuba and the Americas, said he would have supported a military action against Cuba when the island's army shot dead two brothers in the plan. rescue in the Strait of Florida. 1996

"When I first met Ron … the first words of his mouth were:" Cuban-Americans are the backbone of the Republican Party in Florida, "said Marcell Felipe, the founder of the foundation Inspire America. Miami Herald.

Nuñez said Gillum's message is a non-starter in Miami-Dade.

"I think we defend the principles, that so many members of this community have fled their country to avoid socialism, to avoid communism, and I think that everything that looks like socialism will be a problem for the other" , she said. .

– This story was written by David Smiley and Martin Vassolo