Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate David Jolly has recently sparked controversy on social media after posting about a recent visit to two Black churches. The event, which was part of Jolly’s campaign for governor of Florida, was not entirely well-received by audiences, who deemed the visit a way of “pandering” to Black voters in the Sunshine State.
On X, Jolly posted about his recent visit to Koinonia Worship Center and Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, described as “two historic Broward churches.” Jolly welcomed Pastor Eric Jones and Pastor Wayne Allen for receiving him and posted four pictures from the event, which depicted him and his wife, Laura, interacting with the congregation.
Internet Reacts to Jolly’s Visit to Two Black Churches
While a few commenters on X seemed to appreciate Jolly’s visit to these two churches, most of the users did not seem very happy with them. One of them wrote: “Here we go with your typical white liberal in the [expletive] pandering.”
The accusations of “pandering” were, in fact, what sparked most of the negative reaction to the visit: “I’ve never seen such blatant pandering from a candidate in my life! Do you visit any churches that are not black churches? You can visit a million churches before Election Day and you will still be the biggest fraud to ever run for office in a Florida.”
Others echoed the sentiment, saying: “Peak pandering season for Dems to visit black churches. I don’t blame you though….They’ll buy the race-baiting and fear as usual, then won’t see anyone until next election cycle.”
One user cracked a joke at Jolly’s expense, asking: “Why always black churches? Do you have the white vote locked up? I can’t find any info on any of your big rallies anywhere,” likely insinuating that Jolly’s campaign did not have major rallies filled with enthusiastic members. Someone else added: “Would it not be better to use your donations to help the homeless considering you will lose big time.”
As the elections approach, it’s likely that both David Jolly and his Republican opponent, Byron Donalds, will continue to appear at events and congregations to seek votes. However, at least among some conservative users on X, Jolly’s efforts have not been well received.
