Florida Governor Ron DeSantis slammed his former political rival Andrew Gillum on Thursday, saying the recently indicted politician was “propped up” by the media during Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial election despite having “issues under the hood.”
Gillum and an associate were indicted on 21-counts by a federal grand jury on Wednesday alleging that between 2016 and 2019 they “conspired to commit wire fraud, by unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds from various entities and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose,” the Department of Justice said in a press release.
During an event on Thursday, DeSantis was asked if he felt “vindicated” following Gillum’s legal troubles.
“Well, you know… I would ask a lot of the media that propped him up whether they have any type of mea culpa on that,” DeSantis responded. “I mean, there were clearly a lot of issues there. If you looked under the hood, you saw it, but what was presented to the public was that this guy was like the second coming.”
“I mean, never has a candidate been elevated, I think, that way by media outlets, certainly in the last ten years or so. And I can tell you – if I had not won in 2018, this state would be in much worse shape and that’s not even a question. And so we’re happy that we were able to do it but even more happy that we’ve been able to lead and accomplish more than anyone thought we could accomplish in the state of Florida,” he added.
I asked @GovRonDeSantis if he feels vindicated after being called a LIAR and a RACIST for calling out @AndrewGillum for being under FBI investigation in 2018. His response is SAVAGE! ???? pic.twitter.com/wS2tkw35cg
— Chris Nelson ???????? ???? (@ReOpenChris) June 23, 2022
