Florida gubernatorial hopeful slams Jewish donor’s racism, but won’t return cash

Republican Ron DeSantis calls Steven Alembik’s use of racist pejorative to describe Obama ‘disgusting’; says donations already spent but will not accept further funds

By JTA 22 September 2018, 3:24 pm

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Republican candidate for Florida governor Ron DeSantis smiles during an airboat tour of the Florida Everglades, on September 12, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

WASHINGTON — The Republican nominee for governor in Florida condemned racist remarks by Jewish backer Steven Alembik as “disgusting” but his campaign said it would not return money Alembik had donated.

Alembik, of Boca Raton, Florida, posted on Twitter recently, calling former president Barack Obama a “F***ING MUSLIM N*****.”

Asked about his use of the pejorative, he told Politico on Thursday: “I grew up in New York in the ’50s. We were the kikes. They were the n******. They were the goyim. And those were the spics.”

A campaign statement from the GOP candidate, former congressman Ron DeSantis, denounced Alembik’s rhetoric as “disgusting,” and said it would no longer accept money from him. But the campaign also said it would not return at least $4,000 he had given the campaign because it had already been spent during the primaries, The Associated Press reported.

DeSantis, who resigned his seat in Congress last week to focus on an unexpectedly tight gubernatorial race, spoke in February at a pro-Israel event Alembik organized at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by US President Donald Trump.