Jesse Lee Peterson, a right-wing pastor, radio host and pundit, devotes his latest WND column to attacking Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who recently became the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, the first African American nominee for the position. Peterson, who is also black, has made a habit of appearing with and promoting far-right, alt-Right, and white nationalist personalities.
Being targeted by Peterson puts Gillum in good company. Peterson has previously denounced prominent black leaders, including Barack Obama, Oprah, LeBron James, and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, who Peterson labeled “an evil man.” Peterson declared in May that racism is “a made-up word” and that racism has “never existed” in America–not even during Jim Crow.
In his column, published over the weekend, Peterson denounced Gillum as “bad news,” lumping him in with other progressive candidates who Peterson denounces as “American-hating leftists.”
Peterson also complained that Gillum supporters were “playing the race card” by objecting to Republican nominee Ron DeSantis’s comments that Florida voters should not “monkey this up” by backing Gillum.
“Democrats know ‘racism’ doesn’t exist, but they use it to silence white conservatives and to instill fear in blacks and motivate them to vote,” wrote Peterson.
Earlier this year, Peterson denounced the “stupid” white people who objected to the infamous police arrest of two black men who were seated in Starbucks waiting for a colleague to arrive; Peterson complained that “these godless blacks and white liberals, who are of their father, the devil, have to go out and stir up and use the bad black people.”
Peterson calls Trump “the great white hope” and the “white savior” for African Americans. He told a caller who said he was not a Trump supporter that “Satan is your father.”
In his WND column, Peterson also attacked Gillum for “work[ing] with People For the American Way”; Gillum formerly headed PFAW Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network.
