While gubernatorial candidate US Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) has preached equality and bashed Gov. DeSantis (R-FL) for being exclusionary to certain demographics, the congressman appears to only market LGBTQ merchandise to English-speaking people on his campaign website.
While Rep. Crist's websites are distinctively compatible for both English and Spanish speakers, it appears that the campaign will only be marketing LGBTQ merchandise to English-speaking individuals and is not featured on his Spanish website for any of his non-English speaking supporters.
The discrepancy was pointed out by a media strategist. Giancarlo Sopo wrote on Twitter today, "Interesting. When you visit Charlie Crist's campaign store, the English version prominently features Pride Month materials for sale. But the Spanish version has none."
Interesting.
When you visit Charlie Crist's campaign store, the English version prominently features Pride Month materials for sale.
But the Spanish version has none.
See for yourselves: https://t.co/IUzqqXdfyF pic.twitter.com/V3nwSwrEdw
— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) June 20, 2022
While some have theorized this is because the Hispanic population is more conservative than it once was, or simply due to Crist's history of inconsistency, it could come down to the political direction the state of Florida is going.
Although Liberal lawmakers like Crist have branded bills like the Parental Rights in Education bill as the, "Don't Say Gay" -- a bill to make it seem wildly unpopular-- a majority of Florida Democrats approve of the legislation.
In fact, just this week roughly 30 GOP lawmakers in Florida secured qualifying for their primary races totally unopposed, with nearly all of them in strong support of the DeSantis agenda in Florida, indicating strong support for DeSantis politics in the state of Florida.
Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, responded to Crist's apparent campaign merchandise bias.
Fried's communications directed Keith Edwards responded to The Floridian's request for comment, and took a jab at Crist's ongoing change in posititions.
“Of course Charlie Crist runs his merch store like he does his policies: he's for or against something, depending on his audience. Florida needs a leader like Nikki Fried who has never wavered on abortion or LGBTQ+ rights. Nikki is running for Governor to represent everyone. It's Pride Month and pride merch should be for everyone," stated Edwards.
