Palm Beach Sheriff candidate calls opponent a ‘fucking asshole’ during virtual forum

Image via Michael Gauger.

Palm Beach County Sheriff candidate Michael Gauger used some colorful language during an online candidates’ forum this week, calling his Republican Primary opponent a “fucking asshole” during their closing remarks.

Gauger insists he thought he was on mute at the time.

The outburst came near the end of a virtual event hosted by When We All Vote Palm Beach Voting Squad, a nonpartisan community organization dedicated to boosting voter participation.

The target of Gauger’s ire: retired Bartow Police Cpt. Lauro Diaz, who previously served with the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.

A YouTube video of the event, timestamped below, shows Gauger — who left the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) in 2021 after 47 years there, the last 16 of which as Chief Deputy to incumbent Democratic Sheriff Ric Bradshaw — arguing he is the most qualified candidate among Bradshaw’s challengers.

“Look at my history. Look at what I’ve accomplished. Look at what I’ve built,” he said. “I have the history of holding people accountable, even more so when the person I worked for didn’t.”

The forum’s moderator, Deputy Chief State Attorney Cheo Reid, then prompted Diaz to make his closing statement.

Diaz briefly clarified that he is focused solely on defeating Gauger in the Primary next month, not on competing with Democratic candidate Alex Freeman. He then accused Gauger of taking credit for the PBSO’s accomplishments during his tenure there while blaming its shortcomings on Bradshaw.

“You’ve heard a lot of ‘I, I, I’ on everything that sounds good and went well, and then ‘they, they, they’ on everything that goes wrong. The fact of the matter is 50 years is way too long to be there, the No. 2 guy for the last 16 years, and now he’s criticizing (Bradshaw) and everything that’s going wrong (there),” Diaz said.

“He is part of the problem. He is the problem.”

Gauger, who participated in the forum on his cellphone and can be seen knocking the device over as Diaz began to speak, fired back almost immediately.

“You’re a fucking asshole,” he said, staring directly into the camera.

“Wow,” both Diaz and Freeman exclaimed, almost in unison.

Gauger, 76, told Florida Politics on Thursday that he was talking to himself and didn’t know his mic was unmuted or that he was onscreen when he let loose the expletives.

“I had no idea I was live and nobody bothered to tell me,” he said. “I mumbled to myself after listening to all (Diaz’s) nonsense. Then I see the expression on his face and was like, “Oh no. Am I not on mute?’”

Gauger said he reached out to Reid and When We All Vote to apologize. He also posted an explanation on the group’s Facebook page.

“They kind of laughed,” he said. “I didn’t because I was embarrassed. That’s not who I am.”

Diaz, 62, told Florida Politics that Gauger’s ebullition shows he lacks the temperament and self-awareness necessary to lead the PBSO, which runs local law enforcement activities and partners with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on national security matters, including safeguarding former President Donald Trump and visitors to his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“That is a person who cannot handle criticism in any way, shape or form,” he said. “And this is not the first time he’s done this; it’s just the first time it’s been caught on film.”

Diaz was cited in a city report last year as having openly bad-mouthed then-Bartow Police Chief Bryan Dorman. He left the department to run for Sheriff and maintains he never undermined Dorman.

Freeman, Deputy Chief of the Jupiter Inlet Colony Police Department and a former Chief of the Midway Police Department in Gadsden County, said that campaigns test both a candidate’s qualifications and emotional fortitude.

This is Gauger’s first run at elected office. Freeman, 50, challenged Bradshaw in 2016 and 2020. He said Gauger showed he “definitely lacked poise” in his comments Tuesday.

“When you’re running for office, people are going to say things that may rub you the wrong way,” he said. “To respond in that manner makes me wonder how he dealt with and will deal with the Sheriff’s Office employees.”

In his third run against Bradshaw, 76, Freeman vows to reduce recidivism and crime, if elected, by partnering with apprenticeship, training and employment programs.

Diaz and Gauger will participate in a Thursday forum at 6 p.m. at the South County Civic Center in Delray Beach. We the Locals, a Palm Beach- and Broward-focused podcast, will host and moderate the event, which will stream live on YouTube and Rumble.

Freeman said the Boynton Beach Coalition of Clergy is hosting an forum for all candidates at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Boynton Beach on Aug. 5.

The Primary is on Aug. 20, followed by the General Election on Nov. 5.