Gubernatorial candidate James Fishback repeatedly labeled GOP Primary opponent Byron Donalds a “slave” to corporate interests.
The heavy language to describe a Black Republican came during questions with press at a campaign announcement in Tallahassee. Fishback, the CEO of Azoria, made the remark in contrasting his economic agenda with that of Donalds, a former financial advisor.
“Byron Donalds is a slave. I’m sorry, he’s a slave,” Fishback said. “He is a slave to his donors. He is a slave to the corporate interests, to the tech bros that want to turn our state into, his own words, a financial capital. Why not be an agricultural capital? Why not be a farming capital? Why not be a citrus capital? Again, why do we have to become a financial capital? He wants to turn Florida into Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong. We like Florida just the way it is.”
But the choice of words immediately raised other imagery of Florida’s agricultural history. Florida, a former Confederate state, was home to almost 62,000 slaves before emancipation, according to the 1860 census.
The latest assertion comes after Fishback has called Donalds a “DEI Republican,” using a regular anagram for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Donalds is one of five Black Republicans elected to the current Congress. He has also repeatedly called for his party to improve outreach to minority voters since his time in the Florida Legislature.
Donalds has the endorsement of President Donald Trump and has led all polls among the declared candidates for Governor. Fishback in recent weeks has garnered attention online with an explicitly nativist and anti-immigrant message, but stressed that race is not a component of his platform. He has called for the end of all H-1B visas and stopping legal immigration.
Fishback launched his campaign for Governor with a campaign video early Monday and filed his paperwork with the state.
