Rep. Ron DeSantis, who’s busy claiming that when he warned Florida voters not to “monkey this up” by electing black Democrat Andrew Gillum as governor over him, it was a totally not-racist phrase that he uses all the time in all sorts of contexts (he doesn't). Now DeSantis has some more explaining to do about how a different racist thing also isn’t racist. DeSantis was an administrator of a Facebook group filled with racist images and comments—or, he was until his participation came to light and he had to quit the group.
The Facebook group, simply named Tea Party, has nearly 95,000 members, and users must join the group to post or comment. The banner for the group is an image of the Confederate, Christian and Gadsden flags flying alongside the flags of the U.S. and Israel. (It isn’t affiliated with the conservative group Tea Party Patriots.)
Members of the group have attacked Black Lives Matter and other African-Americans as “ghetto scum” and ridiculed the teenage survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. [...]
One member believed the violent far-right rally of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017 was a hoax, writing in a post liked by 1,600 users that the rally was “orchestrated by the left” to “destroy America.”
A quick look at the group shows a cesspool of racism, misogyny, and general meanspiritedness (including lots of vicious jokes about the death of Sen. John McCain). DeSantis was one of 52 administrators for the group … at least until Wednesday, when his participation was reported right as he was trying to argue that “monkey this up” was not a racist dog whistle.
It took Ron DeSantis one day after becoming the Republican nominee for governor of Florida to show that he’s a flaming racist. We really don't need any more evidence—but chances are, he’s going to prove it again and again over the next 68 days.
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