Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds has recently sparked controversy online after criticizing Democratic senatorial candidate Angie Nixon for her stance on Cuba. The remarks of the Florida politician divided social media users, however, as some agreed that Nixon was in the wrong, while others criticized Donalds for what they saw as dishonesty.
Angie Nixon recently appeared in an interview with CNN, during which a reporter asked her whether Cuba was a dictatorship. Nixon declined to give a direct answer. She said, “That is what people have told me. I have never been to Cuba, and so I will have to take their word for it.”
After the clip surfaced on social media, it was shared by Byron Donalds, who called it “the craziest thing” he had ever heard and said it was sad to see the Democratic Party being “fully consumed by socialism.”
This is not the first time Donalds has brought up Cuba during his campaign. Earlier this month, for example, he visited the Bay of Pigs Museum to speak with men who participated in the landings during the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba on April 17, 1961, calling the veterans “heroes.”
Internet is Divided on Donalds’ Remarks Regarding Nixon
Reactions to Donalds were fairly mixed, as many users criticized him on X. One of them wrote: “It is crazy since it’s clipped and you don’t get the entire answer, which was brilliant.” Someone else added: “This is an obvious scare tactic. The democrats are not communists and you know it.”
Others criticized Donalds for his record while in Congress: “You’ve been in Congress with control of all three branches and you haven’t done [expletive] to liberate Cuba. Instead you went to war with Iran. Maybe sit down and shut up on this one.”
However, a fair number of people also supported Donalds. One of them said: “Every Cuban in Florida should be on high alert to never vote for this woman.”
Others lamented: “Democrats have allowed their own party to be diluted and weakened. They will allow this country to be diluted and weakened in the same way.”
Donalds will face David Jolly in the race for governor of Florida. Nixon, on the other hand, is competing against Ashley Moody for a U.S. Senate seat. Given the closeness of the races, controversial remarks about the candidates are likely to continue.
