GOP governor candidate says Florida shouldn't "monkey this up" by electing his black opponent

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

MBeanie said:

Racism is a winning political strategy for the GOP among their base. At this point, I expect the majority of the GOP are wild bigots.

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Here's an idea, how about some new exploitation videos like Girls gone wild, but these are called Bigots gone Wild. Go to the Republican national convention and Trump rallies. Get a Zach Braff looking dude to ask people to say racist shit into the camera for a free T-shirt.

PepsimanVsJoe said:

Just a reminder.

Ron DeSantis is this motherfucker

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......Sorry for the language but...

The FUCK is this shit?

PepsimanVsJoe said:

Just a reminder.

Ron DeSantis is this motherfucker

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My kid likes the Smoking Popes and Nintendo games.

I'm a better dad.

Jimmypython said:

he wouldn't do it if this wouldn't get him votes tho.

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Why would he need "the racists" votes when he's a Republican running against a black liberal?

I really doubt he was hurting for that demographics votes before this.

PepsimanVsJoe said:

Just a reminder.

Ron DeSantis is this motherfucker

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JFC, how is this not parody?

i think i read a post saying this guy had the potential to make a "legitimate rape" tier awful comment, but i didn't think he'd start putting in work this instantly oh my god.

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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Nah, he's racist.

lmcfigs said:

It's a huge miscalculation. This is day 1 of the general race and that's how he starts???

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You actually believe this wasn't on purpose...? His whole response was scripted and purposely full of dog whistles...

"following off the success of scott"

biggest fucking joke i've ever heard

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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How is this not the standard brand of GOP dog whistling?

What the fuck, man

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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Lol

KarmaCow said:

How is this not the standard brand of GOP dog whistling?

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It is. That's my point... you don't come out and call a guy a 'monkey' if you want to dogwhistle. You say he's 'articulate' or a 'socialist.'

WeAreStarStuff said:

JFC, how is this not parody?

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Reminder, Stacey Abrams is also running as the first African American governor of Georgia.

This is the ad put out by her Republican challenger:

mikehaggar said:

You actually believe this wasn't on purpose...? His whole response was scripted and purposely full of dog whistles...

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I think it's on purpose and probably will not go over well for him really. The places he needs to win won't respond to this very well. Florida has a strong gop presence, but it's not a safe state for republicans by any means. I think him clinging to Trump is a bad idea and I think this racist shit is a bad idea in a state where Trump won by just about 1%.

Kuma Bear said:

Wow, I wonder what was the reaction in the studio, everyone probably blinked real hard and just stared, gobsmacked at what they just heard.

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It's fox news, they probably cheered and offered a drink to the guy.

riotous said:

Why would he need "the racists" votes when he's a Republican running against a black liberal?

I really doubt he was hurting for that demographics votes before this.

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Florida went for Obama twice. Trump won because his explicit racism goosed the turnout with the fucking confederates in north Forida.

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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There are so many ways to say that without using the word monkey. The plausible deniability has always been intentional. It's so those that at least pretend to take the position of being offended by racism can hand wave it away because it's not blatant. It's not a new concept in racism, it has actually become the defacto racism in America.

BWoog said:

Reminder, Stacey Abrams is also running as the first African American governor of Georgia.

This is the ad put out by her Republican challenger:

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JFC, alternative reality.

lmcfigs said:

I think it's on purpose and probably will not go over well for him really. The places he needs to win won't respond to this very well. Florida has a strong gop presence, but it's not a safe state for republicans by any means. I think him clinging to Trump is a bad idea and I think this racist shit is a bad idea in a state where Trump won by just about 1%.

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Ah, ok. I misunderstood your initial post!

Vas said:

It is. That's my point... you don't come out and call a guy a 'monkey' if you want to dogwhistle. You say he's 'articulate' or a 'socialist.'

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He also did that but a dog whistle isn't just about talking obliquely about a topic, it's about using words and phrases that are otherwise benign to mask the intent. You showed exactly how this works by explaining how "monkey this up" isn't inherently racist. I don't know why you think this was unintended.

BWoog said:

Reminder, Stacey Abrams is also running as the first African American governor of Georgia.

This is the ad put out by her Republican challenger:

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Lord help the person who breaks into his home, they won't know which one of those 70 unsecured guns to grab to rob him with.

NoName999 said:

After on-air racial slur, top DeSantis fundraiser reportedly suspended from Fox News



But remember: Not racist.



He called him articulate as well.

Come on now

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Am I being trolled?

Fox News, "Not Racist but #1 with Racists".
...
Checks Out.

Bro that's the regular whistle not the dog whistle

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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My first reaction but then I saw the video and the "articulate", this is a fog horn not a whistle.

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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You'd have to be out of your cotton-picking mind to not see how obviously racist that was.

BWoog said:

Reminder, Stacey Abrams is also running as the first African American governor of Georgia.

This is the ad put out by her Republican challenger:

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Funny, sick, and sad all at once. But not enough guns. He needed some rocket launchers in the background and maybe a tank. You gotta do it bigly.

shnurgleton said:

Bro that's the regular whistle not the dog whistle

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He didn't want to dog it up

Off to a great start. How long before Trump starts insulting Gillum's intelligence?

PepsimanVsJoe said:

Just a reminder.

Ron DeSantis is this motherfucker

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That's a creepy ad.

Get ready for three days of pedantic discussion about the etymology of a phrase interspersed with "playing the race card", "outrage culture", and "I don't have a racist bone in my body".

I'm making sure all my friends and family members vote.

KarmaCow said:

He also did that but a dog whistle isn't just about talking obliquely about a topic, it's about using words and phrases that are otherwise benign to mask the intent. You showed exactly how this works by explaining how "monkey this up" isn't inherently racist. I don't know why you think this was unintended.

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And I went out of my way to make it clear that it's very possible he DID mean it. Spent 90% of my post qualifying my statement to defend it against vapid and disingenuous 'hot takes' that ignore the substance of my post. As you see, it didn't work, as people don't actually read posts, they just skim them and rush in.

I qualified it because I was not interested in defending his record or his character. And I was NOT willing to absolve him of guilt or the possibility that he would throw away his successful career of probable insidious racism with a blunt allusion to a black man as an ape. Hey, maybe he was just feeling self-destructive, I dunno. It's possible. Just, in fairness, there was, and I quote, 'plausible deniability' because like it or not, it is a commonly used phrasing.

Vas said:

And I went out of my way to make it clear that it's very possible he DID mean it. Spent 90% of my post qualifying my statement to defend it against vapid and disingenuous 'hot takes' that ignore the substance of my post. As you see, it didn't work, as people don't actually read posts, they just skim them and rush in.

I qualified it because I was not interested in defending his record or his character. And I was NOT willing to absolve him of guilt or the possibility that he would throw away his successful career of probable insidious racism with a blunt allusion to a black man as an ape. Hey, maybe he was just feeling self-destructive, I dunno. It's possible. Just, in fairness, there was, and I quote, 'plausible deniability' because like it or not, it is a commonly used phrasing.

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I would love to see examples of the phrase being used in politics that were not directed at somebody Black like in the last decade. I doubt there are many.

You are the racist for pointing out a racist term!

This ain't even a fucking dog whistle, the hell.

This whole thing was a trap to get the Black liberal talking about BS. Gillum is smart, he didn't react, other than to laugh at DeSantis. Watch what gets said when Obama comes to stump for Gillum, that's gonna be some klan air-raid sirens going off

Beartruck said:

My state is going all blue this November no matter what so I think I'll donate too. Gotta help out the cause wherever I can.

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Yep. That's the position I'm in too. So might as well.

zethren said:

Well then, fuck this guy.

Good luck, FL Dems. Is this going to be considered a close race? I'm not very familiar with FL politics.

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Sadly I still see it being a close race even with this blatant comment. FL is very red leaning due to a lot of older white convervatives living up North, and a lot of older Hispanics who are die hard Repubs due to the implementation of anti-Castro policies in the 70's and 80's. Gillums best chances to win are high voter turnout in the South where a lot of younger hispanics / black population support him. That's how he won the Gov Nomination, he was down to Graham by 20% from early voting alone, but day of voting from minorities pushed him over Graham to take the nomination.

But imagine if a black person made a mild joke about someone's eye shadow. I'd need a fainting couch and smelling salts.

Real question. Is the term "monkey this up" a derogatory racist term by itself, or in this situation, is it implied to be that because of the situation?

Vas said:

And I went out of my way to make it clear that it's very possible he DID mean it. Spent 90% of my post qualifying my statement to defend it against vapid and disingenuous 'hot takes' that ignore the substance of my post. As you see, it didn't work, as people don't actually read posts, they just skim them and rush in.

I qualified it because I was not interested in defending his record or his character. And I was NOT willing to absolve him of guilt or the possibility that he would throw away his successful career of probable insidious racism with a blunt allusion to a black man as an ape. Hey, maybe he was just feeling self-destructive, I dunno. It's possible. Just, in fairness, there was, and I quote, 'plausible deniability' because like it or not, it is a commonly used phrasing.

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Did you mean "That's not to say he's not racist" or something in your original post because it makes the rest of the post seems like a long walk to absolve him of what he said.

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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I'm going to be fairer.

Any half-intelligent, educated adult 100% understands the word 'monkey' has explicit racist connotation.

The man fully understood what he was saying, and is no doubt smart enough to know he can spin it just like you did while also blowing the whistle for certain voters.

There's literally no way this man didn't know the term wouldn't be felt as a racist term.

Also, it's not a commonly used phrases at all these days. Almost certainly because it has racial connotations too often. So that's not even a good excuse, as it would likely only still be commonly used by those with racist tendencies.

rjinaz said:

I would love to see examples of the phrase being used in politics that were not directed at somebody Black like in the last decade. I doubt there are many.

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Hey, me too. I'm sure it's happened, but if it doesn't, what does it matter? I'm old enough to remember the 'niggardly' situation, and I feel like it gave me some wisdom here regarding things like this. You can focus on a word, but look at the repulsive shit he was saying explicitly there. That's what's really important.

When I see this kind of reaction, it's why I think a tape of Trump saying the magic word WOULD be incredibly damaging. Yes, he says racist shit all the time but people don't pay attention. They don't like nuance. They like hard, concrete words they can point to. Hardly nobody is talking about this guy saying he's 'articulate' and a 'socialist' in a disparaging way, they are focusing on him using the word 'monkey.' It's just not wise.

Vas said:

I'm going to be fair: To 'monkey' something up means to do something is a haphazard and careless way. I don't think I detect a specific racist intent here... or at least, that's more than enough plausible deniability. That's not to say he's racist, but I don't think he was trying deliberately to sound racist, at least. If anything, I'd imagine he's much prefer the GOP's normal brand of more insidious dog-whistling.

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No.