Thread: Andrew Gillum campaign loses Manny Orozco-Ballestas after offensive tweets emerge

Democrats are extremists. Florida vote this one down in November!

Andrew Gillum campaign loses Manny Orozco-Ballestas after offensive tweets emerge




Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum gestures as he speaks to members of Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) more >

By Andrew Blake -
The Washington Times - Saturday, September 29, 2018

Manny Orozco-Ballestas no longer works for the campaign of Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, after a local blogger circulated several of the former staffer’s purported past Twitter posts, including one imploring President Trump’s execution.
“The type of language this young man used on social media before his employment with our campaign is unacceptable and he will no longer be working with the campaign,” Gillum campaign spokesperson Joshua Karp in a statement, The Tampa Bay Times first reported Saturday.
Confirmation of Mr. Orozco-Ballestas‘ departure came shortly after Jacob Engels, the publisher of the fringe Central Florida Post blog, shared screenshots on Twitter of several crude tweets attributed to the former Gillum campaign youth director dating back to 2012.
Among the screenshots circulated by Mr. Engles were images of tweets in which Twitter user @OrozcoBallestas made sexist remarks containing an expletive for a male appendage.
“If you weren’t so ugly I would put my [expletive] in your face,” the user tweeted in April 2012, according to Mr. Engels. “If you can take a [expletive] you can take a job,” they allegedly tweeted that December.
Tweeting to the future president in 2013, according to Mr. Engels, the same user tweeted: “@realDonaldTrump: you need to be executed.”


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ozco-ballesta/

VOTE REPUBLICAN, FLORIDA!!! ELECT Ron DeSantis Governor and Rick Scott US Senator!

Wake up Florida! If Gillum wins, Trump will lose Florida in 2020!



foxnews.com

Andrew Gillum staffer fired after calling for Trump's execution, wearing shirt deriding pro-Trump states

Questions for Andrew Gillum

The Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate needs to come up with some answers.

October 9, 2018
By Bert Peterson

Andrew Gillum, endorsed by socialist Bernie Sanders, is the Democratic gubernatorial nominee for Florida. The following is from his "Economy and Jobs" webpage as it appeared October 7, 2018:

Andrew has proposed the "Fair Share for Florida's Future" Plan to finally make real investments in our public schools and working families – and ask the richest corporations to pay a little more of their fair share.

"... fair share"? Exactly how does Gillum define this term? Exactly at what point does a share become "fair" or "unfair"? We hear this term by adolescents and the left all the time. Now Gillum, as a candidate for governor, is proposing an increase (that is, "a little more") in corporate taxes based on it. So what exactly does it mean? By exactly what standards does Gillum decide that the current rate is "unfair" and that his proposed rate would be "fair," or "more fair"?
"... real investments in our public schools"? Through state and local expenditures, Florida spends in excess of $20 billion annually on public education. Exactly what is "unreal" about those expenditures?
"... the richest corporations"? So Gillum is not going to have all corporations pay their "fair share," but only the "richest" ones? That is, he's going to have a progressive corporate tax rate? What exactly will that progressive rate be?

By adjusting our state corporate tax level to a modest 7.75%, which allows our richest corporations to receive a tax cut and keeps our corporate tax rate more than 1% lower than California, we'll be able to recoup at least $1 billion and put it where we need it most – investing in our future.

"... 7.75%"? Yes, that's what (on top of the 21% federal tax) the richest will pay, but what will "not richest" corporations pay? Where is the progression of the rate? Or is there is no progression? Then why does Gillum suggest that there is?
(Is it because, on people, Florida has no state income tax? Which means that Gillum cannot target "rich people" – it has to be "rich corporations" instead? Because, whatever the proposal is, the word "rich" – to suggest that someone else will be paying – has to be included?)
"... a modest 7.75%"? Mr. Gillum fails to disclose that current rate is 5.5%, making Gillum's proposal a 2.25% increase over that rate. A 2.25% increase over a 5.5% increase is a 41% increase. If Gillum paid rent (and "the richest corporations" did not pay it for him) and it went from $500 to $705, or $1,000 to $1,410, would he call that a "modest" increase?
"... recoup"? The definition of "recoup" is "to regain or recover; to reimburse or indemnify; to pay back." In other words, Gillum is speaking as if the money earned by corporations does not really belong to them – that is, to the owners or shareholders who have put their money at risk to underwrite their corporation – but to "us," to people who have done nothing to earn the money but who want to "recoup" it. Why then don't we "recoup" all of it?
"…we"? Who are "we"? Clearly, since we cannot "recoup" money from ourselves, corporations – excuse me, the "richest corporations" – that is, those people who work or own shares in them – are not included in that definition. That is, the "we" does not include those who, through investment or labor, are actually earning the money. (And some say Mr. Gillum is a socialist – where do they get that from?)

The "Fair Share" plan calls for rebuilding our public schools, paying teachers a minimum starting salary of $50,000, investing in early childhood education programs, and investing in SHOP 2.0 and vocational training to help get workers the training they need for higher paying jobs. He wants to help working families get ahead, including pushing for family-friendly policies like paid family leave that help workers take care of their families.

"... rebuilding our public schools"? Huh? As noted above, Florida currently spends over $20 billion annually. So when were our public schools destroyed? And if $20-plus billion annually was not enough to prevent their destruction, then why will the additional billion dollars Gillum wants prevent it?
"... early childhood education programs"? Astonishing. In one breath, Gillum says that prior efforts to educate students K-12 have failed. In the next breath, he wants to extend that same educational process to students who are pre-kindergarten. And then, in a third breath, he wants "family-friendly policies like paid family leave that help workers take care of their families." But is extending public education to children as young as two or three really a "family-friendly" policy?
Socialism is defined as the state controlling the means of production. (That is, there are no private businesses, no "rich corporations.") If the state controls education from two to 18, or to 21, isn't that the same kind of thing? Do we really need more government-controlled education?
Bert Peterson operates a website at 4thofjuly.info.

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https://www.americanthinker.com/arti...ew_gillum.html

Andrew Gillum staffer fired after calling for Trump's execution, wearing shirt deriding pro-Trump states

By Gregg Re | Fox News

Florida elections: Who is Andrew Gillum?

A look at Andrew Gillum, Florida's Democratic nominee for Governor and the first black major party nominee in Florida history.

Several videos at the page link

A youth outreach staffer for Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been terminated after calling for President Trump's death on Twitter, and wearing a shirt calling pro-Trump states "Dumbf--kistan."
The staffer, 24-year-old Manny Orozco-Ballestas, made a series of sexually graphic and politically charged comments on social media in 2012 and 2013, according to fringe blogger Jacob Engels, who flagged the posts.
In one 2013 post, Orozco-Ballestas wrote to Trump: "you need to be executed." In another, he reportedly wrote, "If you're weighing 300 pounds+ maybe it's a good idea you stop posting all that fattening food pics on [Instagram]!"
But it was one of Orozco-Ballestas' own Instagram posts last summer -- which was also unearthed last week by Engels and published by The Tampa Bay Times -- that led to calls by state Republicans for his termination.
In the post, Orozco-Ballestas is pictured wearing a shirt depicting a map of the United States, with red-colored states indicating ones that went for President Trump in the 2016 election.
On the shirt, a key provided below the map explains that the red states refer to "Dumbf---istan," while the blue refer to the "United States of America."

The Republican Party of Florida immediately called for Orozco-Ballestas' firing, saying the post was unconscionable.
WATCH: FLORIDA GOVERNOR'S RACE BETWEEN TRUMP-BACKED DESANTIS AND GILLUM HEATS UP
"It is unbelievable to me that Andrew Gillum would not only employ, but promote on social media, a person who calls voters 'dumb f*cks' for electing Republicans," Florida Republican Party Chairman Blaise Ingoglia wrote in a statement. "It is hypocritical for Gillum to endorse the same kind of hateful, intolerant speech that he likes to denounce."
At the time, a spokeswoman for Gillum told the Times they had addressed the explicit shirt with Orozco-Ballestas, who had been on the job for less than two weeks. The campaign added that they won’t "be lectured about words by the Party of Trump."
In a statement released Saturday, Orozco-Ballestas, who reportedly previously worked for Hillary Clinton's campaign, apologized.
“I am embarrassed, angry and disappointed in myself,” he said. “I took social media for granted when I was younger and I am now facing the consequences. ... What I tweeted as an immature student many years ago is not a reflection of the man I am today."
Gillum had denounced a remark his Republican opponent Ron DeSantis made last month after they each secured their party’s nominations in November’s election for warning voters not to “monkey this up” by voting for the Democrat, who is black.
A Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday showed Gillum, who is running on a platform calling for expanding access to Medicare and raising the minimum wage, advancing to a 9-point lead over DeSantis, 54 percent to 45 percent.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...mp-states.html

Here is my message to the citizens of Florida! Trust me, I know Andrew Gillum well, he has worked to destroy Tallahassee, you do not want him for Governor!!!!!!!’

you want to become Venezuela; because this is how you become Venezuela. A Vote for ANY Democrat is a Vote for MAVA; Make America Venezuela Again

Venezuela – An Economic Catastrophe In Images The Final Stage of a Crack-Up Boom

FBI investigation looms over Democratic nominee for Florida governor

By Dan Merica, CNN
Updated 7:14 PM ET, Mon September 3, 2018

Video at the page link


(CNN)An ongoing federal investigation into public corruption in Tallahassee, Florida, threatens to damage the nascent campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum, the city's mayor.

The FBI investigation into whether out-of-town developers were able to influence city development projects has already become fodder for political attacks against the gubernatorial candidate, who won the state's Democratic primary last week and rose to national prominence because of his historic win and gripping personal story.
"He is embroiled in a lot of corruption scandals," Rep. Ron DeSantis, Gillum's Republican opponent, said on Fox News after the primary win. "This guy can't even run the city of Tallahassee. There is no way Florida voters can entrust him with our entire state."

Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum calls racist robocall targeting him 'deeply regrettable'


Gillum's level of exposure in the probe remains unclear, though the mayor has long said publicly that the FBI told him he was not a focus of the investigation. His campaign officials have said the same thing and looked to turn the attack back on DeSantis.
"Mayor Gillum is not a subject of the FBI investigation, and he's committed to rooting out any corruption or wrongdoing in Tallahassee," said Geoff Burgan, Gillum's spokesman. "We're not going to take ethics lectures from Congressman Ron DeSantis, who is marching in lockstep with the most morally, ethically and legally challenged President in American history."
The FBI declined to comment on the investigation.
Gillum has not been named in any of the subpoenas, but questions have been raised about his potential involvement, in part because the investigators have compelled information from Adam Corey, a lobbyist and longtime Gillum friend who volunteered as finance chair on his 2014 mayoral campaign. Hundreds of Corey's emails have been posted online, at Gillum's direction, fodder for Republican groups that will spend millions looking to stop Gillum's campaign.
Gillum's ties to Corey, whom he met while he was in college, have long raised questions. The Tallahassee Democrat reported in 2015 that Gillum's 2013 decision as a city commissioner to vote to fund a multimillion-dollar project tied to Corey through the city's community redevelopment agency raised questions because of their friendship, even though city lawyers deemed Gillum did not have a conflict of interest.
The vote made way for Corey and other partners to convert a turn-of-the-century electric plant into an upmarket restaurant named Edison.
Those questions grew when the paper reported on Gillum and Corey vacationing together in Costa Rica, where they agreed to meet with Mike Miller, a name used by one of three FBI agents posing as developers, once they were back in Florida. Gillum's chief of staff told the paper that the trip was not business related and that he was on vacation with friends. Questions have also been raised about a 2016 trip to New York, where Corey and Miller were also present. A local television station published a photo in August of 2017 that showed Corey, Gillum and an FBI agent sitting in the back of a boat in New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
According to public documents, the undercover agents posing as developers got close to city officials and lobbyists in an attempt to snuff out public corruption. FBI agents subpoenaed thousands of records in June 2017 and Gillum's office then posted those records online. Reporting from the Tallahassee Democrat found that a cadre of city officials and power brokers have been named in the subpoenas, but Gillum's campaign has denied any connection to the probe and pledged to work with the FBI.

Bernie-backed progressive Andrew Gillum will face a Trump-styled Republican Ron DeSantis in Florida's governor's race

Even so, Republicans will seek to use the investigation to bludgeon Gillum's campaign. The Republican Governors Association has already put out a digital ad on the probe and Jon Thompson, a spokesman for the group, told CNN that is likely just the beginning.
"This FBI investigation will haunt Andrew Gillum's gubernatorial campaign and will be a very lethal attack," he said.
Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association, responded, "Ron DeSantis has spent his political career pandering to far-right fringe elements, by voting to raise the retirement age and jack up health care costs on Floridians with pre-existing conditions. The RGA is desperate to rewrite history now that they're saddled with a candidate who is more extreme than Trump."
The Gillum-DeSantis race is likely to be one of the most expensive gubernatorial contests in the country, with both campaigns and outside groups spending millions to control Florida's executive branch.
Gillum has sought to fight back on the attacks by distancing himself from Corey and pledging to be helpful, while also using his approach to the investigation to attack President Donald Trump, a vocal DeSantis backer.
"We want to make sure that any individual that participated in that is held fully accountable. The good news is, is that it doesn't involve my government or myself. We have all been fully cooperating," Gillum told CNN's Dana Bash in an interview Sunday on "State of the Union."
Despite their longtime friendship, Gillum also distanced himself from Corey by referring to him as just a campaign volunteer.
Referring to Trump's constant attacks against the FBI for the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Gillum added, "The difference between how we have addressed this and how Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump have addressed the FBI is that we have welcomed them and have tried to aid in their work."
No charges have been filed to date as a result of the Tallahassee probe.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/03/polit...ion/index.html

Beware Florida, a wolf is at your door!




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Andrew Gillum packs house in, um, Palatka? - Florida Politics

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