President Trump built his appeal on a mix of populism and elitism — a contradictory combination that was perfectly on display in one of his Monday tweets.
As polls show Florida's gubernatorial race consistently leaning toward Democrat Andrew Gillum, Trump again relayed his support for GOP candidate Rep. Ron DeSantis (Fla.). In his Monday tweet, Trump called DeSantis a "Harvard/Yale educated man," while referring to Gillum as a "thief" and "mayor of poorly run Tallahassee."
In a response to Trump's tweet, the Toronto Star's Daniel Dale points out the obvious: "There's no evidence Andrew Gillum is a thief," and that "Gillum is a black man." Still, Trump's latest endorsement, which some critics called a "dog whistle," seems another indication that he is going all-in for DeSantis, who has repeatedly made his ties to Trump as a selling point for his campaign. And Trump, as The New York Times' Jonathan Martin put it, "will own this loss should DeSantis fall short."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
