(Politico) Ron DeSantis, frustrated with questions about racists and accused bigots backing him, went on the counterattack Monday and said that his Democratic opponent in the Florida governor’s race has “anti-Semites around him.”
DeSantis focused his criticisms on two groups: Dream Defenders, a minority empowerment group that Andrew Gillum praised during the Democratic primary for governor, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose members Gillum met with as mayor of Tallahassee in 2016.
“I can find anti-Semites around him,” DeSantis said in a video clip of an exchange with reporters circulated by his campaign. “But it’s almost like ‘we don’t want to discuss that.’”
CAIR and the Dream Defenders deny being anti-Semitic, but both acknowledge being strong critics of Israel. Gillum’s campaign, which also denies associating with anti-Semites, said DeSantis is trying to change the subject away from his own campaign’s struggles.
