Vintage video shows young Andrew Gillum speaking about 2000 Florida recount
He talks about the mess Florida had to deal with during the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
In a strange bit of irony, years before Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum was enmeshed in his own election recount, he appeared in a documentary about one of the most infamous Florida voting scandals in recent history.
Monday, Cheddar correspondent J.D. Durkin tweeted out a clip from in Unprecedented – The 2000 Presidential Election. In the footage, a young Gillum can be seen speaking about the mess Florida had to deal with during the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Now 16 years later, the Tallahassee mayor is demanding a recount in his own election after withdrawing his concession in the race for governor against Republican candidate Ron DeSantis.
The same day this clip was posted on social media, DeSantis supporter, Donald Trump, shared post-election tweets of his own that were full of conspiracy theories, including one that Florida’s ballots being “massively infected” by fraud. Trump even demanded that states like Georgia and Florida call off legally required recounts.
“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,” Trump opined, referring to the Sunshine state’s GOP Senate and gubernatorial candidates.
“An honest vote count is no longer possible—ballots massively infected. Must go with election night!”
well hell, it all comes full circle — from the 2002 documentary “Unprecedented” about the 2000 Florida recount, here’s a clip featuring a certain young man from Florida A&M: pic.twitter.com/55crLO47GN
— j.d. durkin (@jd_durkin) November 13, 2018
Never one to back down, Gillum swiftly responded to Trump’s declaration with a cutting observation: “You sound nervous.”
According to political news site Common Dreams, Trump’s attempt to halt Florida’s recounts fits ongoing patterns by Republicans and conservatives to stop recounts when the results could favor Democrats.
The site also reports that Trump’s Justice Department sent election “monitors” to 35 voting locations in 19 states the day before midterm elections, a move that according to several activist groups was a blatant attempt to intimidate Democratic voters and suppress turnout.
READ MORE: Bill Cosby gets trial date for Playboy mansion assault case
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
You sound nervous.#CountEveryVote https://t.co/9kRvTqUmwM
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) November 12, 2018
