Andrew Gillum calls on Ron DeSantis to disavow racist robocalls ‘in his own voice’

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum appeared on a number of talk shows Sunday morning, and the questions ranged from controversies spawned by Republican opponent Ron DeSantis (the “monkey it up” statement) to the out-of-state racist robocalls disawowed already by a DeSantis spox.

His Jacksonville stop Monday revealed that those questions were far from retired.

Gillum addressed the “tone” of the DeSantis campaign, saying “we try to limit our back to his forth.”

“I have encouraged not just our supporters but also Mr. DeSantis to keep this race above board,” Gillum said. “It is extremely dangerous in today’s day and time to weaponize race.”

“I am not ashamed of who I am,” Gillum added. “I think when you make race a pejorative, it can be a dangerously divisive tool.”

As he did on Sunday shows, Gillum mentioned what happened in Charlottesville last year as an example of what happens when the fires of racial controversy are stoked.

“I was surprised how quickly … after we both secured our nominations that things kind of went south,” Gillum added.

The “monkey it up” statement, per Gillum, “was the beginning of a deep dive into the swamp” by DeSantis.

Gillum clearly was upset by the robocalls.

“I turned it off before I could complete it,” Gillum said, urging DeSantis to keep the discourse “high.”

“Because on day one, if folks already here ‘don’t monkey it up’ kind of talk,” Gillum said, “license” is created for “even more aggressive [language] in a darker direction.”

Gillum noted that DeSantis hasn’t personally spoken up against the robocalls, though a spox has.

“I assume that he opposes [them],” Gillum said, noting that DeSantis could actually learn from Gov. Rick Scott  in this regard.

“Gov. Scott, on his Twitter feed, in his own voice,” Gillum noted, “decried that tactic and that tool. I would expect Mr. DeSantis to do the same in his own voice.”

“It has not happened yet,” Gillum said.