“In Florida there is a choice between a Harvard/Yale educated man named @RonDeSantisFL who has been a great Congressman and will be a great Governor - and a Dem who is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!” Trump wrote on Twitter.<doc-sep>Dana Bash: This is so telling about where the Republican party is NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 24: Trump Tower stands on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on August 24, 2018 in New York City. Following new allegations over hush money that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid to an adult-film actress, the Manhattan district attorneyÕs office in New York City may seek criminal charges against the Trump Organization in the coming days. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 08: US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) remarks on the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the US Capitol November 8, 2006 in Washington, DC. Warner said he supports President George W. Bush's nomination of former CIA Director Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense. Warner said he anticipates Gates' confirmation before the end of the year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), joined by Senate Assistant Minority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (L) and Senate Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), speaks following a Senate Republican Policy luncheon at the Russell Senate Office Building on May 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. (CNN) — President Donald Trump launched what opponents decried as a racially loaded attack Monday on Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, labeling him a “thief” without evidence and claiming that, as mayor of Tallahassee, Gillum oversees one of the country’s “most corrupt cities.” The President’s tweet comes just eight days before the election to decide who will lead the state: Gillum or his Republican rival, former Rep. Ron DeSantis. Early voting is already underway and Gillum, who is vying to become the state’s first African-American governor, led by double digits in a recent CNN poll. Gillum responded less than an hour after Trump’s attack and, like the last time they clashed, mocked the President for not engaging him more directly. “On Twitter there is a choice between having the courage to @ the person you are trash talking, or not,” Gillum wrote. “@realDonaldTrump is howling because he’s weak. Florida, go vote today.” His opponent, DeSantis, has keyed in on Gillum’s 2016 decision to accept a ticket to see the Broadway show “Hamilton” from a group that included an undercover FBI agent, according to text and email records released under subpoena last week, as evidence that an ongoing federal corruption probe in Tallahassee is closer to the mayor than has been reported. DeSantis has also questioned whether a trip Gillum took that year to Costa Rica with his wife, along with lobbyist and longtime friend Adam Corey and his associates, was appropriate. Gillum has said he paid his own way. No one connected to Gillum or the investigation has been charged with a crime, and Gillum has repeatedly said the FBI has told him he is not a focus of the probe. There has been no suggestion of outright thievery, as suggested by Trump, even by Gillum’s political opponents. The probe centers on whether developers successfully influenced city projects, although at one point an undercover agent infiltrated Gillum’s inner circle and attended the trip to New York with Corey, Gillum and Gillum’s brother. Despite Gillum’s assertions that he is not a target of the federal probe, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders claimed Gillum was under investigation by the FBI when asked at a news conference on Monday what the President meant when he used the word “thief” to describe the candidate. “That individual’s under FBI investigation. I would refer you to that,” Sanders said. “I’m not going to get into specifics on that matter because it involves two candidates running for office and I’m not going to impact that due to the Hatch Act. I’ll leave that to the President to make those kinds of statements.” Gillum’s campaign dismissed Sanders’ assertions as “desperate falsehoods” in a statement Monday. “These desperate falsehoods make it clear the Trump Administration is more concerned with saving the failed gubernatorial campaign of its loyal lapdog Ron DeSantis, than it is with the truth,” the statement said. “It’s simply wrong to say Mayor Gillum is under FBI investigation—he’s not under FBI investigation and the FBI has confirmed it. Conspiracy theories aren’t true just because President Trump and Ron DeSantis pretend they are.” The President’s comment earlier Monday sparked an instant backlash from an array of Democrats, including the group led by billionaire donor Tom Steyer, one of Gillum’s top supporters, which described the language as “another racist dog-whistle meant to stir up his base because he knows DeSantis is behind.” DeSantis began the general election campaign by warning voters not to “monkey this up” by electing Gillum, a remark he subsequently denied had any racial component. DeSantis has also faced questions over his role as an administrator on a racist Facebook page, which a spokesman for him said the former lawmaker had been added to unwittingly and had since left. Questioned last week at their second debate over his decision to speak at conferences hosted by David Horowitz, an anti-Muslim conservative political activist, DeSantis angrily rejected any suggestion he shared those views. The exchange teed up Gillum, who shot back, “My grandmother used to say, ‘A hit dog will holler,’ and it hollered through this room,” adding that while he wasn’t calling DeSantis a racist, “I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist.” The records relating to Gillum’s theater excursion in New York, which were subpoenaed by the state ethics commissions two weeks ago, according to the Tampa Bay Times, cast doubt on the explanation from Gillum’s campaign that the mayor received the ticket from his brother, Marcus. At a debate last week, Gillum took responsibility for not asking “more questions” about the situation at the time. “I was aware that Adam Corey and (an agent known as) Mike Miller arranged so that we could go and see the show. I arrived at the theater and received my ticket from my brother,” Gillum said. “The problem that I have is that I should have asked more questions to make sure that everything that had transpired was aboveboard.” Gillum had also addressed the controversy earlier last week at a CNN debate with DeSantis. “Did you pay for the ‘Hamilton’ ticket, or did the undercover FBI agent pay for the ‘Hamilton’ ticket?” DeSantis had asked. Gillum never directly answered, but said he had – in general terms – always paid his own way during his political career. “We all have friends that sometimes let us down,” Gillum said of Corey, while also suggesting DeSantis was using the issue as a not-so-subtle way of trying to provoke a racial backlash in a campaign that could end with the election of Florida’s first African-American governor. “I’m a hardworking person,” Gillum said. “I know that may not fit your description of what you think people like me do.” CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump and Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum reignited their feud on Monday in a series of tweets that come as Trump continues to voice his support for GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis in the contentious election. If Gillum, a progressive wins, he will be the first African American governor in the state's history. This isn't the first time Trump has gone after Gillum online. The previous has previously said in a tweet that Gillum was a "failed Socialist Mayor" and "allowed crime & many other problems to flourish in his city." Like he did in August, Gillum responded by telling Trump him to tag him directly and urging Floridians to vote early. Trump's dig seemed aimed at revelations that Gillum accepted tickets to "Hamilton," an award-winning Broadway musical, from an undercover FBI agent probing public corruption in the state capital. DeSantis himself has been under fire for his comments regarding Gillum and the integrity of the race. Last week, he said that Gillum would appoint “Soros-backed activists” to state positions if elected governor. That took place days after an explosive device was found inside the mailbox at the home of Democratic financier George Soros. Soros is a prominent Democratic donor and one of the most fervent supporters of Gillum’s campaign, according to the nonpartisan campaign finance site OpenSecrets. DeSantis has also been under fire for his comments on FOX News telling voters the day after the primaries that they should not “monkey this up” by voting for Gillum. Gillum has been a target of robocalls, reportedly ran by a white supremacy group, which impersonate Gillum. The voice on the newest robocall voice impersonates Gillum in an exaggerated accent and refers to the Democratic candidate as a "negro" and a "monkey." "Well, hello there. I is the negro Andrew Gillum and I'll be askin' you to make me governor of this here state of Flordia," the call says. DeSantis denounced the calls and said he didn't know who was making them, although the group from Idaho made similar robocalls mocking California Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein. Trump at a rally last week denounced moral attacks coming from both sides of the aisle, saying “those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective — have to do that. The language of moral condemnation and destructive routine, these are arguments and disagreements that have to stop." The race is one among many in the nation where the chance for turning a governorship blue is possible. ABC partner FiveThirtyEight forecasts Gillum with nearly a five point lead over DeSantis on election day.