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MIAMI – Text messages describing the Florida Democrat candidate's campaign as governor as anti-Semites hit the cell phones of some Jewish voters Thursday night, stepping up political attacks in a near-by-behind race that has already been horrific.
"The remarks of the leader of the Florida Democratic candidate, Andrew Gillum, recently unveiled, raise serious concerns about the ever closer links between Gillum and blatant anti-Semitism," say the text messages.
The messages referred to comments made nearly two decades ago by Chris King, the choice of Mr. Gillum as lieutenant governor, while Mr. King was in college.
Mr. Gillum's campaign described the messages as "abusive tactics" by his Republican opponent, former Representative Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis "leads one of the most conflicting and toxic campaigns in Florida's history – and tonight this means extreme spam messages," said Joanna Cervone, director of communications for Mr. Gillum.
The DeSantis campaign did not deny being behind the text messages, which seemed to target voters with Jewish surnames.
"Chris King's comments speak for themselves," said Stephen Lawson, director of communications for DeSantis, in a statement. "The Gillum campaign should spend more time looking at why they said it and less about how voters find out."
King, 39, lost a race in 1998 to become Harvard's student body president.
"I've been nailed to the cross," said Mr. King, an evangelical Christian, in 1999, referring to how the college newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, had covered his campaign. "And most of the writing that was so tough with me, the vast majority was Jewish."
The comments resurfaced during the governor's primary, in which Mr. King, an entrepreneur from the Orlando area, and Mr. Gillum, the 39-year-old mayor of Tallahassee, competed with several other Democrats for the nomination. . When Mr. Gillum triumphed, he chose Mr. King as a running mate.
Mr. King apologized for these remarks.
"The comment I made there I said was wrong," he said. said on a Miami podcast in July, during the main race. "It hurts feelings. And I'm sorry to make this comment 20 years ago. This was certainly not a reflection of my belief in diversity.
DeSantis, 40, who is lagging behind Gillum in recent polls, told reporters in Florida this week that he had focused too much on the racial controversies surrounding his campaign and not enough on associations Mr. Gillum with the American Council. Islamic relations and advocates of dreams, group of minority activists. Both called for a boycott against Israel, a position Mr Gillum said he rejected.
"I can find anti-Semites around him", Mr. DeSantis said Monday, without referring to Mr. King's remarks. "But it's almost like we do not want to discuss it."
A day earlier, members of the Proud Boys, a group of self-proclaimed "Western chauvinists," attended a rally for Mr. DeSantis in Sarasota. The Southern Poverty Law Center regards the Proud Boys as a group of hate; Mr. DeSantis said he did not tolerate Proud Boys or other people who might come to his events with beliefs he does not share.
On Wednesday, DeSantis hired Susie Wiles, who spearheaded President Trump's successful Florida campaign in 2016, to chair his governorship campaign.
The decision by Trump's strong supporter DeSantis was seen as an internal upheaval aimed at stabilizing his hesitant campaign, which has seemed unstable since the day after August 28, when DeSantis declared Mr Gillum's surprise . The democratic victory could lead to a far-left program that "would be shady".
Mr. Gillum, who is African American, and others have described the sentence as more than a racist whistle – "Bullhorns," he said.
Mr. DeSantis then asked about the opportunity to speak at conferences organized by right provocateurs and not to make campaign donations from a supporter who called the former president Barack Obama of racist on Twitter.
"I think it's interesting that racists tend to align with Mr. DeSantis," Gillum told reporters in Miami last week. "And I think that he must understand why, repeatedly, during his election campaign, he has to explain this relationship, those friendships and the language that not only he used, but also the people who he has. ; around. . "
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