4 key takeaways from the Florida governor debate
Former congressman Ron DeSantis, a Republican, and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, just squared off at a one hour-debate in Tampa.
The election is just more than two weeks away and Gillum is up according to the latest CNN poll.
Here’s what you need to know about how the debate went down:
- Climate change and the environment was a key issue: DeSantis attacked Gillum for pursuing what he described as a “California-style energy policy,” to which the Tallahassee mayor pointed to DeSantis’ climate skepticism.
- Gillum responded to an FBI investigation: There’s a probe into potential corruption in the city of Tallahassee, which appears to include lobbyists and a former campaign treasurer who worked for Gillum. “We all have friends that sometimes let us down,” Gillum said when asked about it.
- There was a discussion about Broadway tickets: While discussing the FBI investigation, DeSantis drilled down on one of the sexier parts of the story: Gillum unknowingly spending time with undercover agents in New York. He asked Gillum bluntly: “Did you pay for the Hamilton tickets?”
- The candidates talked about race: DeSantis was about a controversial remark in which he said voters would “monkey this up” if they elected his African-American Democratic opponent. DeSantis denied it was about race, but Gillum alleged that the Republican’s campaign has tried to undermine his campaign with racist dog whistles. (Watch more on that exchange in the video below.)
The two candidates were asked tonight if they think President Trump is a good model for the children of Florida.
Republican Ron DeSantis talked about Trump’s effort to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and praised his leadership in that role.
Baffled by DeSantis’ answer, Democrat Andrew Gillum said, “I’m confused by the question.
CNN’s Jack Tapper, who is moderating the debate, responded, “The question is whether or not he thinks President Trump is a good role model for the children of Florida.”
Gillum said, “That’s what I thought originally. I got confused.”
The Tallahassee mayor then went after Trump.
“No, he’s not. Donald Trump — Donald Trump is weak. And he performs as all week people do: they become bullies and Mr. DeSantis is his acolyte. He’s trying out to be the Trump apprentice at every turn. He’s tweeting at him and he’s talking to him. He’s showing up. He’s complimenting him.”
Ron DeSantis was just asked about his controversial remark in which he said voters would “monkey this up” if they elected his African-American Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, to be governor, immediately drawing accusations of racism.
“The congressman let us know where he was going to take this race the day after he won the nomination,” Gillum said of DeSantis’s remarks on Fox News after he won the nomination.
“The ‘monkey up’ comment said it all,” Gillum said about DeSantis (Read more about that comment here).
The Democrat alleged that the Republican’s campaign has tried to undermine his campaign with racist dog whistles.
“And (DeSantis) has only continued in the course of his campaign to draw all the attention he can to the color of my skin,” Gillum said.
He added: “The truth is, I’ve been black all of my life. So far as I know, I will die black.”
DeSantis denied that the remark was a reference to race and accused Gillum of being insufficiently…
