Trump got smacked down when he tried to help Ron DeSantis' racist campaign this weekend.
Trump thought he could attack Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum (D-FL) with impunity this weekend — but Gillum immediately stood up to Trump's dishonesty and cowardice.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted in support of Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and his racist campaign. He also attacked Gillum by saying, "His opponent runs one of the worst & most corrupt cities in USA!"
Gillum immediately responded by calling Trump out for not having the "courage" to attack him by name, or even his Twitter username: "When you lie about me from the most powerful office in the world and still don’t have the courage to @ me..."
A few hours later, Gillum released a video once again calling Trump out for his cowardice, and for "lying on me, and the City of Tallahassee."
"I don't expect much more or anything different from him," Gillum said. "In fact, you all shouldn't expect anything different from Ron DeSantis. These are two guys who have no relationship with the truth, and don't seek to have a relationship with the truth."
Gillum continued by touting his positive vision for the future of Florida.
"I'm relying on you, and I believe that we will win, and we're going to do it by getting out there giving people a reason to vote for something rather than against," Gillum said. "We're going to win by telling the truth, and by speaking a vision for the future of this great state."
.@RonDeSantisFL is relying on @realDonaldTrump to help him win this race, but he doesn’t have what I have -- and that’s people like you who have my back in this race. Early voting starts on Monday, so let’s bring it home >> https://t.co/3T3VkXm6Ir pic.twitter.com/uyOhj3319T
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) October 20, 2018
This is not the first time that Trump has attacked Gillum, and Tallahassee, in such a cowardly fashion. Trump even dared to attack the city of Tallahassee as Hurricane Michael was bearing down on the region.
But Trump's attacks aren't just cowardly — they are also inaccurate.
Under Gillum's leadership, the crime rate in the city of Tallahassee has fallen to a five-year low.
If elected, Gillum would become the first black governor in Florida's history, a fact that doesn't seem to be lost on DeSantis. Immediately after securing the GOP nomination for governor, DeSantis unleashed an attack on Gillum that was so racist, even Fox News had to acknowledge and condemn it.
"The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up" by voting for Gillum, DeSantis said in that interview.
Since then, DeSantis has also been exposed for speaking at racist conferences, for having moderated a racist Facebook page, and even for authoring a book that excused slavery.
As Gillum noted, it is only natural that someone like Trump would throw in with DeSantis. Trump's racism has been the defining element of his entire political career.
Trump and DeSantis are going all-in on lies and racism — but they seem to have met their match in Andrew Gillum, who won't tolerate these attacks without putting up a fight. And the truth is on Gillum's side.
