The rhetoric employed by Democratic nominee for Governor Charlie Crist (D) continues to attract attention. In August, he called Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) a fascist whose supporters have "hate in their hearts." In September, he said he is "so damn proud" of President Biden's infamous speech calling "MAGA Republicans" enemies of democracy.
Now he has upped the stakes of the election by comparing himself to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and, indirectly, to Jesus by embracing the hyperbolic "DeSatan" insult for DeSantis. Twitter page DeSantis War Room uploaded footage from a recent campaign speech Monday afternoon.
In just one minute, Charlie Crist compares himself to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Jesus Christ. pic.twitter.com/Y921vt1qAB
— DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) September 12, 2022
The video begins with Crist pointing out the fact that his campaign colors are blue and yellow, which are the colors that make up the Ukrainian flag.
"And you want to know what the colors are? Look at that sign, right there, you see the colors? The blue and yellow? Does that remind you of any country that's in the news right now," said Crist.
The audience applauds at the reference and cheerfully answers "Ukraine!"
Crist continues, "yeah, we're fighting for freedom too. We're fighting for freedom too. And Zelensky, President Zelensky, is amazing. Amazing, right? And you've mentioned it. And the courage, and the strength, and the decency that he shows. This is an election about decency. About being decent to one another. About being kind to everyone. It's called a Florida for All. You know, we got a divider on the other side and a uniter over here."
At this point, Crist frames the election as the battle between good and evil when he says, "you know, some people call him "DeSatan."" In the audience, people can be heard seemingly agreeing with the epithet. "Have you heard that?" Crist asks. "That's one of the nicer ones!" A woman says. "Indeed it is," Crist replies. "I'm trying to be nice. DeSatan versus that," he points to his campaign sign behind him, pointing out the fact that his name is one letter away from "Christ," which the audience picks up on. "No, think about it!" Crist says.
"No, we've got a great race ahead, we do, and I'm excited about it, and the choice is crystal clear. There is no question about it. It is crystal clear. He's bad, we're good."
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