Home WebMail Saturday, November 2, 2024, 12:30 PM | Calgary | -0.8°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Posted: 2018-10-23T17:12:19Z | Updated: 2018-10-25T15:31:39Z

A white supremacist website in Idaho is sending out an extremely racist robocall against Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum .

Voters in Florida received the robocall on Tuesday, and HuffPost obtained audio of the recording. Speaking in an exaggerated minstrel dialect, an actor pretends to be Gillum, saying: Well hello there. I is the Negro Andrew Gillum, and I be asking you to make me governor of this here state of Florida.

Minstrel music plays in the background, and a monkey screeches occasionally to refer to Gillum, who is the mayor of Tallahassee.

The ad says Gillums health care plan will be quite cheap, because hell just give chicken feet to people as medicine. It talks about how Jewish people are going to vote for him, because Jews are the ones that been putting Negroes in charge over the white folk, just like they done after the Civil War.

HuffPost reader Rusty Gordon noted that the music in the background of the ad appears to be from Amos n Andy, the controversial and popular radio and television show that relied on racial stereotypes .

At the end of the robocall, a disclaimer says it was paid for by The Road To Power, a white supremacist website and podcast based in Idaho that sent out a similar call against Gillum in August, when he was running in the Democratic primary . The group has been linked to racist robocalls in Virginia, Oregon, California, Idaho, Iowa and Pennsylvania .

In early September, after the groups earlier call, Gillum said he wants to make sure that we dont racialize, and, frankly, weaponize , race as a part of this process.

The Anti-Defamation League notes that Scott Rhodes, the man behind Road to Power, is a white supremacist who achieved local notoriety in late 2017 when police linked him to the distribution of white supremacist propaganda at Sandpoint (Idaho) High School, harassment of a Sandpoint resident, and threatening, anti-Semitic calls that included recordings of Hitler.

These disgusting, abhorrent robocalls represent a continuation of the ugliest, most divisive campaign in Floridas history, Geoff Burgan, a spokesman for Gillum, said Tuesday. We would hope that these calls, and the dangerous people who are behind them, are not given any more attention than they already have been.

Gillum, who would be Floridas first black governor if elected, has faced racist comments and dog whistles throughout his campaign. The morning after the primaries, former Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) Gillums opponent went on TV and warned voters not to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state.

Our campaign has absolutely nothing to do with this robocall and joins those in condemning it, DeSantis spokesman Stephen Lawson said Tuesday. In fact, we would encourage the Gillum campaign to join us in rooting out and exposing once and for all those who are behind this disgusting call.

Even Idaho officials Gov. C. L. Butch Otter (R) and Boise Mayor David Bieter (D) chimed in against The Road To Power on Tuesday, saying this kind of bigotry will not be tolerated in Idaho.

This story has been updated with comment from DeSantis campaign and Idaho officials, and more information about the music in the robocall.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Correction: This piece originally referred to DeSantis as a congressman. He resigned last month.