In a purple state that Trump won, Andrew Gillum is happy to take revenge

NORTH MIAMI, Florida – Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum visited President Donald Trump on Thursday during a visit to a mostly Haitian community as part of his early-voting bus tour.

"I want to be clear about the need to push back the trump-izing of America," the Democratic candidate told the Florida governor to a few hundred supporters near the E. May Avil North Miami public library, hoarseness voice after weeks on the road. . "He insults people who are different from him. He wants us to strip ourselves of each other's humanity so that we will no longer see ourselves as brothers and sisters. I reject this mark of politics. We must reject this type of policy. "

Gillum is the first African-American governorship candidate in Florida history. Trump and GOP candidate Ron DeSantis spent much of their Wednesday night rally in Fort Myers attacking Gillum and warning their supporters that he was a "radical socialist" who, if elected, would transform Florida in Venezuela.

And DeSantis has used his strongest language to date regarding an ongoing FBI investigation of a lobbyist and long-time friend of Gillum and his dealings with the Tallahassee city government. DeSantis said that even though Gillum thought Trump should be dismissed, Gillum had "accepted bribes" from an infiltrated FBI agent.

"Maybe we should remove him!" Said DeSantis, to whom the crowd of 8,000 people chanted: "Lock him up! Lock him up!

There is nothing to indicate that Gillum is under investigation, and he stated that the FBI had told him that he was not the target of the probe.

He did not address the charges in his remarks Thursday afternoon. He spent most of his time on the stage, sitting in a parking lot in front of North Miami High School, reviewing highlights of his stump speech, including the promise to increase the salary of the students. teachers and expand coverage of health care.

He told his supporters that the best way to react to Trump and DeSantis is to vote against them as soon as possible or on polling day. "On November 6, we have the opportunity to send a message to Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, telling them that their policy has reached its limit," he said. "If we vote, we win."

This message was heard in a poor community that has become a center for Haitian immigrants in recent decades.

"Andrew Gillum is the guy," said Pierre Charles, who teaches algebra to high school and community college students. He was born in Haiti and lived in North Miami for 22 of his 47 years. He said that he and his colleagues had always been underpaid and that he thought Gillum would solve this problem. "We need someone to defend us."

Similarly, Camille Papin had planned to vote for Gillum in the library. "I want a change," said the 78-year-old Haitian citizen, adding that the Tallahassee Republicans have not helped him in the past two decades he has lived in Miami. "These guys do not do anything for me."

Gillum has spent the last eight days touring the state by bus to promote early voting. While he took advance on some legs of the ride, he made several stops a day. The morning began in Key West, the southernmost point of the continental United States, 832 km from Pensacola road, where the bodybuilder with the likeness of his portrait appeared on Wednesday.

While DeSantis had had Trump's support since even before officially starting his campaign, Gillum had endorsed the favorite candidate and likely presidential candidate 2020, Senator Bernie Sanders, before the August primary polls. and, since his surprise win, benefiting from the help of party stars like former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris. On Friday, he will be the beneficiary of the biggest name of Democrats, former President Barack Obama, who is planning a rally in Miami.