Politico: Ron DeSantis prepared for Gwen Graham (rather than Andrew Gillum) as FL-GOV nominee
Politico:
DeSantis had planned to face Gwen Graham, a white woman, and was unprepared for facing Gillum, an African-American, according to a Republican with close ties to the campaign who said DeSantis stepped on a rake by making both a monkey reference and calling Gillum articulate.
Ron was ready to be called a sexist and the campaign had war-gamed for that. He wasnt ready for being called a racist, said the Republican, who didnt want to be identified because he was discussing internal campaign matters. He just didnt know how to talk about it.
Before the controversy could fade, a white supremacist group on Friday called Florida Democrats with a racist robocall mocking blacks and Gillum.
Gillum didnt shy away from accusing DeSantis of intentionally using racially coded language that inspired the robocall, which DeSantis camp had denounced.