A campaign staffer for Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, was let go after his social media posts calling for Donald Trump's execution resurfaced.
Manny Orozco Ballestas worked as the youth outreach staffer for Democratic candidate Philip Levine before jumping to the Gillum campaign after the Tallahassee mayor won the primary. But shortly after his hiring, a fringe Florida conservative blogger named Jacob Engels drew attention to several of Orozco Ballestas' Twitter and Instagram posts.
In one Instagram post, Orozco Ballestas is seen wearing a shirt with the 2016 electoral map on it. The states that voted for Hillary Clinton are labeled "United States of America," while the states that voted for Trump (including Florida) are labeled "Dumbf***istan."
"112 days into this fiasco I think it’s time for this picture to be posted. #sorrynotsorry," he posted.
The Florida Republican Party called out the posts as an example of hypocrisy, given Democrats had attacked Republican candidate Ron DeSantis a week earlier for offensive comments made by supporters.
"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 chairman Blaise Ingoglia said in a statement. "It is hypocritical for Gillum to endorse the same kind of hateful, intolerant speech that he likes to denounce."
At first, the Gillum campaign defended their staffer, telling the Tampa Bay Times that Orozco-Ballestas' shirt picture predated his time on the campaign and they wouldn't "be lectured about words by the Party of Trump."
But Engels soon called attention to some of Orozco Ballestas other problematic posts, such as a 2013 tweet where he told Trump "you need to be executed." Around the same time, he also made crude, sexist tweets and chastised overweight people who post food pictures on Instagram.
On Saturday, Orozco Ballestas was fired. "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 spokesman Joshua Karp said in a statement.
In his own statement, Orozco Ballestas said he was sorry: "I took social media for granted when I was younger and I am now facing the consequences. I’m so sorry to all those I let down, especially Mayor Gillum and my team. What I tweeted as an immature student many years ago is not a reflection of the man I am today."