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Be Honest: DeSantis Hasn't Attracted Any More Hate-Mongers than Gillum Has

November 6, 2018 - 6:00am
Shelby Shoup, Omar Smith and Manny Orozco-Ballestas
Shelby Shoup, Omar Smith and Manny Orozco-Ballestas

On Thursday, Nov. 1, the Florida State University Police Department issued a warrant for the arrest of Shelby Shoup, an intern in Andrew Gillum's campaign. Later that day, the 19-year-old turned herself in and promptly was charged with battery. She was cuffed, booked, and spent the night in jail. She will be facing a hearing on Nov. 28. 

This all stemmed from an on-campus incident Oct. 30, in which Shoup approached a Republican campaign table set up on campus and provoked an argument with the Republican students. At one point, she doused one of the members with chocolate milk, hurled further obscenities, and then kicked a DeSantis sign as she left. All of which was captured on video. (Hunter Pollack, brother of slain Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Meadow Pollack, tweeted a video of the incident.) 

The irony in this -- as she was raging about “Nazists” -- is Shoup can be seen wearing buttons with a swastika, and the Communist hammer and sickle. But her conflicted condition and outrage adds up to an additional statistic: Shoup becomes yet another Andrew Gillum supporter who engaged in controversial, and frankly, unacceptable, behavior.

Throughout the campaign one of Gillum’s regular political cudgels has been to accuse Ron DeSantis of character problems based on people with a tangential connection to the man. DeSantis spoke at conferences staged by David Horowitz, whom some declare a hate-monger, so it becomes, “He spoke at racist conferences.” DeSantis has also been smeared by the words of a political donor, and by a series of robo-calls made by an out-of-state supremacist group with no political affiliation to him.

However, as Gillum makes these accusations, he is dealing with problems of questionable behavior in his own ranks, people working directly for his campaign. Shoup is the latest. She has a LinkedIn profile declaring she is a volunteer for the Gillum campaign. The swastika-bearing co-ed states she worked for nearly two years on donor research and fundraisers for the Gillum campaign.

This incident came quickly after another Gillum campaign worker was let go by the campaign after Project Veritas released a video with Omar Smith, one of Gillum's college buds, using -- according to Gillum’s repeated charges -- that taboo of the campaign, racist language. “It’s a cracker state,” Smith stated. “Get it? Ask anybody outside of here. You go to Port St. Lucie, Orlando ... man, them crackers ain’t gonna let us do that sh*t, dawg. Boy, you crazy?”

Smith continued by also describing Gillum in curiously frank terms. “Gillum is a progressive. He is a part of the crazy, crazy crazies.” But given how frequently and vociferously Gillum has been willing to smear DeSantis as a racist based on the words of others, this should be seen as a dark reality. Smith was working directly for the campaign.

It follows a pattern, as well. A youth outreach staffer for the campaign was let go after a series of social media posts  of a troubling nature were found. In one, Manny Orozco-Ballestas announced to President Trump, “You need to be executed.” In another post, he bore a shirt that showed the election map and labeled the Trump-leaning states with a vulgar name.

It's just as well the election is here. If DeSantis can be said to endure responsibility for the smear of what others do and say, then surely Gillum has to bear responsibility for what the workers on his own campaign do and say.

These are his people, so by Andrew Gillum’s own rationale, they represent him in a far stronger fashion than the far-stretched connections he made to slander Ron DeSantis.

Brad Slager, a Fort Lauderdale freelance writer, wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News. He writes on politics and the entertainment industry and his stories appear in such publications as RedState and The Federalist.

Comments

Seems like when a Lib don't like someone, they are automatically racist. That is crap, where is the proof this guy is a racist? Did he deny a minority something? Did he physically hurt someone because of race? No proof , just accusations, like libs do. Remember Kavanaugh, just accuse with no proof. You Libs are so ludicrous, just plain ignorant on what a racist truly is......

DeSantis has been totally inept as a congressman and as a candidate for governor. He's just a Trump Mini-Me. Gillum will be constrained and obstructed by an inept and 'anti-everything' Republican legislature just as Obama was for six years, but he'll at least put the governor's office focus back on the people rather than on the NRA and other monied special interests. Go Gillum! Vote Blue!

Gillum showed us how to run a city. He ran it, alright, into the ground. We voted early and RED.

LOL

Opinions are like the proverbial "A--H--- we all have one.Congratulation leftest liberals and conservatives.I'll check back tomorrow to read all the good,the bad,the ugly.Voted early and voted Red.

Bye bye Red Sonia...

Wow, this is why you will lose... This is such a reach. The difference, Gillum condemned these actions and said they will not be a part of his campaign. DeSantis, merely raged, he will not be held accountable for the actions and speech of others he is around. No matter, Mr. DeSantis, if you won't denounce hate and take responsibility for its rhetoric around your campaign, the voters will...

The most hateful and greedy people I know are liberals.

DeSantis denounces the robo-calls, which came from a completely unaffiliated group in Odaho, the moment they went out. Gillum STILL referenced those during the debate. So if denouncing does nothing to clear the name, Gillum is still accountable for what his own people have done. Sorry, his rules.

One set of robocalls in Idaho dude, what about all of those other crazies in FL. You saw the debate. You saw what he said and did. Even all of the FL political insiders have said that DeSantis committed political suicide and ran the worst campaign of all races in the State of Florida... some right wingnuts will sail that sinking ship straight to the bottom. Time to jump off Alice... No matter, all over but the crying now, may the best candidate win...

He did- DeSantis

I have no idea how this exonerates Gillum from what his own people do and say. His student outreach work worker calls for the death of the President. His close associate he has known for years calls the state “crackers” from within a campaign office. A fundraising worker wears a swastika. But he carries no responsibilty. That’s a handy double standard.

Two of those issues are fake news. The other 2 people were volunteers who have been fired dufus. What more could you do, other than nothing like DeSantis... So much for your feigned double standard...

Another snowflake living in mommies basement.

Sorry, that’s Gillum’s standard. If people not connected to DeSantis - who cannot even be fired - can have their actions foisted on him then Gillum is equally guilty for the actions of his own people.

Brad being honest!! ……………..Now there is fake news for you...………Fact is racist believe DeSantis is racist and at least his policies and Trump clearly is racist...………...Fact is you are going to lose Florida to a black man because you picked such an inept racist candidate and Florida just isn't a majority racist state anymore no matter how much the repubs want it to be...………….And since the undervote is on the dem side this yr, repubs in Florida and around the country are going to have very bad night...………….In fact the best thing for repubs is get their *** kicked big time and rid themselves of the racists, corporate puppets and get back to real fiscal conservatism and Christians back to caring people who follow Jesus in fact, helping others instead of pounding the poor deeper into the ground...…...There is little about repub policy Jesus would approve...……...WWJD?...…….. He'd vote dems that actually follow Jesus' lead vs the increasingly Nazi/Fascist like behavior of fear, hate, division of the repub party, Trump. No?

Jesus was probably the first real 'Liberal' with an actual following! David Jolly and Rick Wilson (and even Charlie Crist) are probably the last of the real traditionalist Republicans left in Florida. (?)

Charlie (What party do I need to run in ) Crist a Republican ????????? That " is " funny.

Andrew Farrakhan Gillum.

Lol! Nice try, but Ron DeSantis is STILL Ron DeRacist!!

Much as I love your honest columns, Ms. Wimes, I disagree on this point. I know Ron. He doesn't have a racist bone in his body.

She has turned out to be another black racist. I am disappointed .

Because he comes from "a cracker state"?

You should know.

That was...K-then

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