The results of the Florida governor’s race are still up in the air as a number of provisional ballots have yet to be counted, leaving voters on edge about who the state’s next leader will be.
Over the weekend, Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession to GOP opponent Ron DeSantis, whose lead over the Tallahassee mayor steadily narrowed as the votes continued coming in. His retraction came after Florida’s secretary of state announced Saturday that the neck-and-neck races for governor, senator and agriculture commissioner would be reviewed in a series of recounts, CNN reported.
Initial Election Day results showed that a significant chunk of Latino men and women voted in favor of DeSantis, who once cautioned Florida voters not to “monkey this up” by electing Gillum as their next governor. According to the numbers, 46 percent of Hispanic men voted for the GOP candidate while 38 percent of women did the same.
Social media critics couldn’t help but notice the trend, and were left scratching their heads over how Latinos could vote for someone who’s backed President Donald Trump‘s tough stance on immigration.
“At some point we need to have a frank and non-judgmental conversation about these Hispanic numbers,” Twitter user @chukroxx opined. “I don’t understand them … And, emotionally, it mid-key stings. What’s happening here y’all?”
“I’m truly just tryna comprehend,” he continued. What about the republican platform is so inviting? Especially considering their immigration stances? Why wasn’t the racism Desantis off putting?”
Radio host Ebro Darden offered this explanation: “Some Latinos are white and even racist against Black & Brown. Many are evangelicals … just cause someone makes seasoned food and is stereotyped by the oppressor as murderous and criminal does not mean they don’t wanna be just like their oppressor.”
Other Twitter users chimed with their own ideas, pointing out some Latino’s allegiance to America prompts them to vote red.
“This isn’t new news,” one critic wrote. “Many Latinos have a thirst to be accepted by whites so much that they’ll denounce any Black person positive or negative. But the funny part is White people look at Latinos like they’re at the bottom of the barrel.”
“I am Latino. Just let me say that a large part of the Latinos who live and are already American citizens are very racist,” wrote another. “They see foreigners in the way that conservatives do, they do not want more Latinos in America. That is why they vote for republicans.”
One user spoke specifically to Cuban-American culture, writing, “Many Cubans, esp older ones in Miami, strictly vote republican because they align the Democrats with (Castro’s) communism. Then add racism/colorism and conservative Catholicism …”
On Monday, Trump ripped into Florida for launching an official recount of the Election Day votes and demanded that DeSantis and Senate candidate Rick Scott be named the winners, claiming that “large numbers of new ballots have showed up out of nowhere and many ballots are missing or forged.”
“You seem nervous,” Gillum tweeted back at the president, followed by the hashtag #CountEveryVote.
Gillum trails DeSantis by over 33,000 votes, while Scott leads Democratic Senate candidate Bill Nelson by nearly 13,000 votes.
At some point we need to have a frank and non-judgmental conversation about these Hispanic numbers. I don’t understand them. And, emotionally, it mid-key stings. What’s happening here y’all? pic.twitter.com/lwfBq7s6lH
— Charles (@chukroxx) November 7, 2018
