On the 28th of August 2018, a major upset occurred when the progressive democratic candidate, the Tallahassee, FL. Mayor Andrew Gillum garnered the majority of votes to represent its citizenry as their gubernatorial candidate for the upcoming November 2018 elections. This development had not been expected. The establishment candidate, Gwen Graham had been ahead in the polls for weeks and had outspent him by several millions of dollars.
Mr. Gillum will be competing in the Florida governor’s race against the republican President Donald Trump’s pick, Ron DeSantis who started off his campaign with a bang that has been back-firing.
Mr. Desantis, already a favorite guest on FOX TV, took a page out of President Trump’s book during another FOX TV news interview as he described his democratic opponent, Mr. Gillum as being a very articulate candidate and then he added the following:
“The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state.”
Of course, the campaign staff of Mr. Desantis has been protesting and denying that it was his intent to issue the above racist statement.
My reticence in accepting the word of Mr. Desantis at face value is that he has been a staunch supporter of the Racist-in-Chief living in the White House and a frequent guest on FOX TV shows where he felt comfortable enough to speak his mind to a favorable audience.
Now, there is a news report indicating that Mr. Desantis had been until very recently, the moderator of a racist conspiratorial Facebook group.
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As per the 8/31/18 Orlando Sentinel, “Republican candidate for governor Ron DeSantis says he knew nothing about a racist Facebook page that liberal groups claimed he moderated, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting.”
“DeSantis’ membership in the 95,000-member Tea Party group was first noted by American Ledger, a website run by the liberal group American Bridge.”
“A DeSantis spokesman denied that DeSantis had ever been an administrator of the group or that he even knew he was a member. He immediately left the page when notified about the matter, the spokesman said.”
“A Facebook user can be added to a page without his or her knowledge and does not have to approve themselves becoming an administrator to groups.”
As per a 7/25/18 Orlando Weekly report, “Only a short time prior to the announcement of his run for Florida governor, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis accepted a paid trip to attend a conference featuring a cast of extremely racist, hateful speakers, reports the Naples Daily News.
“Those speakers included alt-right provocateurs such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka and former White House chief strategist Steven Bannon, among others. Some of the platforms these speakers have touched on in the past include defending a candidate accused of child molestation, suggesting the killing of Muslims and referencing how women are less likely to be in leadership roles because of “biological causes.”
“Florida’s own U.S. Rep. Brian Mast was also in attendance, per the website Right Wing Watch. ”
Here is the rest of the story…
On August 30, 2018, Caleb Ecarma of Media-ite penned the following report, “GOP Gubernatorial Nominee Ron DeSantis Moderated Racist, Conspiratorial Facebook Group”
Excerpts:
“Florida’s GOP gubernatorial nominee Rep. Ron DeSantis administered a racist and conspiracy-obsessed Facebook group, until yesterday when research from Media Matters staffer Natalie Martinez revealed the lawmaker’s role on the page and forced him to leave it.”
Natalie Martinez@natijomartinezA writer for the Infowars-tied Central Florida Post (http://bit.ly/2MPEcV4) has been spamming a racist, conspiracy Facebook group (http://mm4a.org/Zjw) with Ron DeSantis campaign posts. DeSantis appears to be an admin of this group, along with Kelli Ward & Corey Stewart. pic.twitter.com/Sajs2g3ZnY
Natalie Martinez@natijomartinezAnother admin/moderator for the racist, conspiracy Facebook group has also been promoting Ron DeSantis’ campaign, and specifically named DeSantis as an admin, and said the Central Florida Post writer Taylor Foland was specifically brought on to promote DeSantis. pic.twitter.com/tXcqDmDrAX
“As for the page’s content, members shared posts comparing Parkland high school shooting victims and Black Lives Matter activists to Adolf Hitler, accused NFL players protesting police brutality of kneeling “like ISIS,” and accusing Muslims of worshipping a religion dedicated to “pedophilia, sex slavery, rape gangs, and honor killings.” Other members pushed wild conspiracy theories common in right-wing Facebook culture, even claiming the Charlottesville white supremacist rally was actually “orchestrated by the left.”
The news came as DeSantis was already under fire for telling Florida voters not “monkey this up” by voting for his Democratic rival Gillum — who is of African American descent.”
This post was last updated on 8/31/18.
Link to article: Ron DeSantis Moderated Racist, Conspiratorial Facebook Group
Gronda Morin 
You beat me to the punch!!! 😄 I was about halfway through a post about DeSantis and his ties to white supremacist groups, and was just about to stop for tonight and finish it tomorrow, when I saw yours drop in. Once again, it is confirmed that great minds think alike!
Isn’t DeSantis a piece of work? I do so hope Gillum wins on November 6th! Great post, Gronda!
Hugs!!!
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Dear Jill,
I can’t believe the nerve of Ron Desantis to try to get away with denying his racist rhetoric. What he said about Andrew Gillum reflected his heart which is racist to the bone.
The republicans couldn’t have done better to pick a fellow Trumpian. He can’t get away with white washing his racist soul.
I pray and am believing that Andrew Gillum will prevail but you know that the republicans will be playing dirty, all the way.
Hugs, Gronda
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I have been wondering lately, just how many people in this country believe the myth of white supremacy? It seems that among Trump’s blind supporters, that percentage is pretty high, especially south of the Mason-Dixon line, but even in the northern states these days. I suspect we have moved far enough from the horrors of slavery and the reconstruction era, that people think civil rights are no longer important. But how can someone hate another person only because his skin is darker than theirs? DeSantis and his ilk should never be allowed to be a part of the decision-making arm of our government. Hopefully, his racist remark, as well as the stories that are coming out about his white supremacist connections, will put an end to his political career, but again, that depends on what portion of this nation is racist.
Hugs!!!
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Jill,
Re:
There are humans with competitive tendencies. They want to be better than others and will latch on to any theory that claims the color of skin makes them superior to others.
By the way, White supremacy ideology has always been in the northern states. When the media reported it, it was generally local such as the beatings in Cicero, IL by those of Italian descent upon Black men who got lost in that area, or were looking for work at hiring manufacturing plants. It wasn’t always physical but financial. It was prevalent in discriminatory hiring processes and home purchases. Until the late 1960’s, Blacks could only purchase houses in Chicago by contract. No bank would approve their mortgage applications. Insurance companies red-lined areas so that affording vehicle insurance meant sacrificing something else. Still today, house valuations are determined by processes that are discriminatory.
In other words, what is not seen as physical attacks upon minorities, is practiced in systems where those with power and authority use it to keep minorities oppressed or as WS put it, to show that they are intellectually superior.
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Yes, racism has always existed in the north, but I believe that with the inauguration of Trump, it has become more prevalent. But then, the same can be said of the south, too. Superiority … an ugly word. The only thing, in my mind, that makes one person superior to another is in how they treat people. Not much else matters,really.
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Jill, there are people who think that depending on who is in office, that they are above the law. Yes, Trump is acting as the role model for White Supremacists. I agree with you regarding superiority ideologies.
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Prejudices, the feeling of superiority in one way or another, are one of the two things that have kept mankind from enjoying a lasting peace throughout the millenia. The other is greed. I don’t look for either to go away anytime soon, but we have to keep fighting them, for if we stop, then we definitely lose.
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The people who support Desantis are racist just like he is and the trumpers cult…pure and simple.
Sometimes I think this whole democrat republican issue boils down to two main issues: racism (white supremacy) and religious fanaticism (its our way or the highway to Hell).
I despair because I see so much of this in the older generation, of which I’m a part. And the irony to me is that many in this age group (early boomers) were the flower children of the 60s/70s that were all about civil rights for blacks, women etc. and religion was not fanatical then either.
What went wrong with these folks?
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Dear Mary Plumbago,
There is no way that a candidate can be an enthusiastic supporter of President Trump without being a racist. Mr. Desantis is a Trumpian clone. He wasn’t using a dog whistle when he referred to voting for Mr. Gillum as “monkeying around,” he was using a bull horn.
His republican apologists need to know that “we the people” are not so easily buffaloed.
Hugs, Gronda
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The Republicans do play a dirty game, always have in Florida. Yesterday, local news here in Tampa reported that the FBI has launched an investigation into Gillum’s activity as mayor. I have seen no national coverage of this and question if this is a ploy by state Republicans.
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Dear Larry Paul Brown,
I’m going to have to blog on that issue. There is an FBI investigation but as far as I know, he is not a target. I’ll do some research and then I’ll blog on this by Sunday.
Hugs, Gronda
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Gronda, very interesting context. Not the kind of a leader you want for a multi-racial and multi-religion state. Keith
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Dear Keith,
This Florida governors’ race will turn on, whether the State of Florida wants to be perceived as a racist, backward state where the environment continues to be thrashed, where education K-12 is relegated to being rated towards the bottom states, and nothing of significance is done about sensible gun control measures, OR NOT.
I’m believing that most Floridians want something better.
Hugs, Gronda
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