“Unfortunately, for seven and a half this years this animal we call president– because he’s an animal, OK?”
Wow. Trumpism has officially gone wild.
We first reported on Carlos Beruff – the affluent, combative real estate developer running for Florida’s Senate seat currently occupied by Marco Rubio – by lovingly referring to him as the “Cuban-American Donald Trump,” an overt nod to his similarly inflammatory positions regarding immigration (build the wall with Mexico), Muslim-Americans (ban everybody from the Middle East just to be sure, not just the Muslims), and his consistent mockery of different ethnic American groups, all under the guise of being “anti-PC culture.”
His first TV ad released earlier this month, an anti-establishment message entitled “Forget Them,” is part of a growing trend of GOP politicians breaking away from party establishments to ride Trump’s wave of anti-immigration and isolationist rhetoric, hoping it will reward them in November.
Now, the bigoted businessman is again making headlines for all the wrong reasons, calling President Obama an “animal” during a recent Florida Republican meeting.
“Unfortunately, for seven and a half years this animal we call president – because he’s an animal, OK?…has surgically and with thought and very smart, intelligent manner, destroyed this country and dismantled the military under not one, not two, but three secretary of defenses,” Beruff said speaking to the St. John’s County Republican Executive Committee Thursday.
Beruff’s remarks were first reported by the Huffington Post on Sunday, and were immediately condemned by Congressional Representatives Patrick Murphy (D-FL 18th District) and David Jolly (R-FL 13th District), both of whom are seeking the same senate seat in November.
“Mr. Beruff’s statement is not only offensive, but extremely disrespectful to President Obama’s incredible service to our nation,” Murphy said, “I call on Mr. Beruff to immediately apologize for his disrespectful comments. In the U.S. Senate, our diverse state deserves better than Beruff’s clear record of bigotry.”
Jolly wasted no time following Murphy’s lead, saying “like many Americans, I believe with the strongest conviction that the President’s policies the last 7 years have weakened our leadership on the world stage and have weakened us economically here at home, but referring to the President of the United States as an ‘animal’ is an alarming insult of questionable intent and has no place in American politics. Carlos should immediately apologize.”
Nonetheless, Beruff has maintained no fault in his public comments, saying in a written statement that he would not apologize.
“When liberals like young Congressman Patrick Murphy cannot defend their views they resort to name calling and the politics of racial division,” his campaign said, “Carlos was making the point that President Obama has destroyed our country’s strength abroad. Congressman Murphy and the rest of the career politicians in Washington should apologize for aiding President Obama in making America weaker.”
Incredulously, when pressed about the racial connotations of calling Obama an “animal” the campaign said the statement spoke for itself, and actually encouraged people to watch it again.
“We appreciate the publicity that Murphy is giving to Carlos’ critique of President Obama’s failure to protect America, please watch Mr. Beruff’s remarks at this link.”
As per Carlos’ request, the video is available here:
