Gillum rips Trump over Florida elections tweet: ‘You sound nervous’
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) tweeted “You sound nervous” at President Trump Monday morning after Trump tweeted out that recounts in Florida should end and that Gillum’s GOP opponent should be declared the governor-elect.
You sound nervous.#CountEveryVote https://t.co/9kRvTqUmwM
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) November 12, 2018
Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor running against former Rep. Ron DeSantis (R), rescinded his concession in the race as a recount in the state began. The state is also recounting ballots in the Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D), who are separated by an even tighter margin than Desantis and Gillum.
Gillum trails DeSantis by more than 33,000 votes, while Scott leads Nelson by nearly 13,000 votes.
{mosads}Trump tweeted Monday that the election “should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis,” prompting Gillum’s response.
Trump said “an honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected.”
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
Gillum conceded on election night after returns showed him down by a percentage point to DeSantis. However, as new votes came in, primarily from Broward and Palm Beach counties, the lead shrunk low enough to trigger the recount.
Trump has taken to Twitter frequently to voice his criticisms about the tight races in Florida, and Gillum has consistently shot back at Trump for questioning the recount efforts and legitimacy of the election.
“We don’t just get the opportunity to stop counting votes because we don’t like the direction in which the vote tally is headed. That is not democratic and that is certainly not the American way. In America, we count every vote regardless of what the outcome may mean,” Gillum said Saturday.
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