An insurgent candidate for Florida governor has come out swinging, launching a seemingly racially charged epithet against black Republican candidate Byron Donalds.
James Fishback, 30, a former Wall Street financier and college dropout, officially launched his campaign to become Florida's next governor on Monday.
His primary opponent in the race is Congressman Byron Donalds, the front-running Republican who currently represents Florida's 19th Congressional District, encompassing Naples and Cape Coral.
Shortly after filing his paperwork to hop in the race on Monday, Fishback used some unsavory word choices to criticize Donalds, who is black.
'Byron Donalds is a slave. I'm sorry - he's a slave,' Fishback began.
'He is a slave to his donors. He is a slave to the corporate interests, to the tech bros that want to turn our state into his own words, a financial capital.'
His remarks quickly caught attention online, where some critics slammed the 30-year-old for employing racially charged language.
'Byron Donalds has spent his life as a strong, black, conservative voice defending President Trump and the America First Agenda, so he is used to and unfazed by racist Twitter trolls who attack him for that,' Ryan Smith, a spokesman for Donalds' campaign, told the Daily Mail in a statement.
In a statement given to the Daily Mail, Fishback tripled down on his attack: 'If Byron Donalds doesn't want to be called a slave, then he should stop being a slave to his corporate donors.'
'He’s taken $30 million in corporate money, which has compromised his judgment,' he continued.
Fishback, who has posted over half a dozen times on social media calling Donalds a slave, is now drawing backlash from conservatives, including the conspiratorially minded who see him as a distraction.
'Fishback is a chaos agent most likely in the race to peel votes from a serious challenge to Byron Donalds,' lamented Florida-based John Cardillo.
'I’d advise against calling the Trump endorsed, black GOP Congressman running for Governor of Florida a “slave,"' conservative pundit Laura Loomer wrote on X.
Fishback later responded to her, doubling down and once again referring to the congressman as a slave.
Despite his provocative, seemingly veiled racial attacks, Donalds is currently seen as the frontrunner in the race.
A new poll from American Promise shows that 43 percent of likely GOP voters back Donalds, while all other Republican candidates, including Fishback, failed to surpass even two percent support.
The congressman also has the much-coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Though that may not concern Fishback, who has positioned himself as the heir to Governor Ron DeSantis' dynasty.
The 30-year-old investment firm CEO wrote in his announcement video that he wants to carry on DeSantis' legacy and keep DEI out of the Sunshine State while clamping down on H1-B foreign worker visas.
He also wants to abolish property taxes, a major DeSantis priority, and cancel AI data centers.
'I’ll fight to preserve Governor DeSantis’ wins by keeping Florida free from DEI, radical transgenderism, Soros-backed prosecutors, child predators, voter fraud and the millions of illegals that invaded our country on Kamala Harris’ watch,' the 30-year-old candidate said.
Donalds, meanwhile, has been endorsed by President Donald Trump and is seen as the mainstream MAGA candidate in the competition.
DeSantis has yet to endorse a candidate in the race, though it is an open question whether he would back Donalds, who endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential contest over the Florida governor.
