I can't thank you enough, Ron DeSantis!
Since winning the Republican gubernatorial primary, you have shown Florida, and the nation for that matter, exactly who you and your friends are.
Racists.
No ifs, ands, or buts.
You and the birds who flock together with you are racists.
Normally, it takes work to expose your ilk. Not with you. You made it easy. You were determined to show us who you are, and you did it with precision.
This morning, Marc Caputo with POLITICO Florida reported the LATEST racial incident surrounding you. To quote from the story, "A Republican activist who donated more than $20,000 to Ron DeSantis and lined up a speech for him at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, called President Obama a "F--- MUSLIM N---" on Twitter recently, in addition to other inflammatory remarks." Caputo was talking about Steven M. Alembik. Read the story here.
Caputo perfectly laid out the incidents that have unfolded almost weekly, one after another since the primary:
-- On Friday, The Miami Herald reported that DeSantis’ campaign blocked a former Miami state lawmaker who left office after using racial slurs and threatening a colleague from co-chairing a fundraiser for his gubernatorial campaign. "Ralph Arza’s name was removed because of hurtful and disgusting racial slurs he has used in the past. He is not affiliated with our campaign," the DeSantis campaign said in a written statement.
-- On Sept. 9, the Washington Post, building on a Miami New Times story from earlier in the campaign, reported DeSantis “spoke four times at conferences organized by a conservative activist (David Horowitz) who has said that African Americans owe their freedom to white people and that the country’s ‘only serious race war’ is against whites." DeSantis disavowed the comments about slavery but refused to take other questions about the event held by the Freedom Center, for which Alembik’s company, SMA Communications, has done work.
-- On Sept. 4, POLITICO reported that DeSantis called on an Orlando-area GOP official to resign her position Tuesday after she posted what he called a “disgusting” racially-charged Facebook meme falsely claiming Gillum wants blacks to be “paid back” because of slavery. Gov. Rick Scott also denounced the comments.
-- On Aug. 30, the Miami New Times reported DeSantis was “outed” as an administrator of a tea party Facebook group where commentators repeatedly make racist and racially charged posts. DeSantis said he was unaware he was an administrator and withdrew from the group.
Lest we forget, there's the beginning of it all, the “monkey it up” reference.
I said more of these types of racial things would emerge, because that is who and what you are.
The thing is, DeSantis, that isn’t who and what most Floridians are.
Yes, there are those, like Steven Alembik, who are rotten to the core and will support you and your racist tendencies.
There are more good people, though, who aren’t going to tolerate this behavior from you or your supporters/friends.
Each and every time something so vile and disgusting surfaces, such as this latest display of the character of you and your supporters, it will be presented to the public!
I know there is more. You know there is more.
Any decent Republican, Independent, or Democrat couldn’t possibly vote for you.
Unless they are the Steven Alembiks of the world, who spew racist, anti-Muslim hate around.
And then they aren’t so decent, are they?
Leslie Wimes, a Sunshine State News columnist, is founder and president of Women on the Move and the Democratic African American Women Caucus, www.daawc.com. Follow Leslie on Twitter: @womenonthemove1
