Gillum tells DeSantis to stop calling him ‘Andrew’ and show him more ‘respect’

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) called on Ron DeSantis, his Republican opponent in Florida’s gubernatorial race, to show him some “respect” and stop calling him by his first name, the Miami Herald reported.

Gillum was referring to two recent debates in which DeSantis, a former congressman, referred to Gillum as “Andrew.”

“I met him for the first time the other night and then all of a sudden, without invitation, he was calling me only as Andrew. Between the two of us, he quit his job in Congress, I’m a sitting mayor, and he had the nerve to address me only as Andrew?” Gillum said while delivering remarks to college students on Thursday at the historically black Florida Memorial University.

“I wanted to correct him, y’all, but I didn’t want to be petty. So, we just — we pushed all the way through,” Gillum continued.

{mosads} The Florida Democrat’s remarks came a day after the gubernatorial candidate’s fiery debate with DeSantis on Wednesday night, during which Gillum said he would not call DeSantis a racist, but added that “the racists believe he’s a racist.”

“My grandmother used to say a hit dog will holler and it hollered through this room,” Gillum said in reference to the ongoing allegations of racism against DeSantis. 

“I’m not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist,” Gillum added. “I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist.” 

DeSantis has been dogged by allegations of racism throughout his campaign, which he has strongly denied.