Livewire

DeSantis: ‘Absurd’ To Say That Telling Voters Not To ‘Monkey This Up’ Is Racist

08.29.18 | 12:45 pm

Florida Republican gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis wants you to know he definitely wasn’t being racist in an interview Wednesday when he urged Floridians not to “monkey this up” by voting for the first African-American gubernatorial nominee in the state’s history, Democrat Andrew Gillum. After the interview aired, DeSantis’ campaign tried to clarify his comment. Watch:

Send Tips

Matt Shuham is a reporter in TPM’s New York office. Prior to joining TPM, he was associate editor of The National Memo and an editorial intern at Rolling Stone.

Show Comments

Notable Replies

ralph_vonholst says:

August 29, 2018

I see that the GOP has given up on the “it was a joke” strategy and have gone straight to the “self-serving false indignation” opening gambit.
littlegirlblue says:

August 29, 2018

It’s close to “apologies to anyone who was offended” but no cigar.
squirreltown says:

August 29, 2018

Of course it’s not racist Bob, that’s disgusting. And I’d like to remind voters not to “Pick a ninny”
matthew1961 says:

August 29, 2018

Interesting that she has to say at the end that they don’t condone this language. That seems to be acknowledging that it is obviously racist. I assumed Fox would say it was leftists being hyper-sensitive.
loss_mentality says:

August 29, 2018

I have never in my life heard the phrase “monkey this up”. But no, it’s not racist.