Florida Gov's Race Just Hit New Racist Low

Ron DeSantis swears he meant nothing racist by his "monkey this up" comment, but a new robocall in the Florida gubernatorial race definitely did: Set to the background of jungle music and screeching monkeys, the New York Times reports that the minute-long audio clip begins with a man saying, "I is Andrew Gillum. We Negroes . . . done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an stone." The call, which went out to an unknown number of recipients, is apparently the work of an Idaho-based white supremacist, anti-Semitic group called the Road to Power. The group is also behind an effort in Iowa to drive anti-immigration policy in response to the killing of Mollie Tibbetts.

A rep for DeSantis called the ad "appalling and disgusting. Hopefully, whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action." The Gillum camp called it "reprehensible," while asking the Washington Post to "Please don't give it undeserved attention." Current Gov. Rick Scott joined the men seeking to replace him in denouncing the ad in a tweet: "There is no room for any racial politics here in Florida — none. Florida is a melting pot of people from all over the globe, and we are proud of it. No attempts to divide people by race or ethnicity will be tolerated, from anyone. THIS. STOPS. NOW." (More Andrew Gillum stories.)