
Far-right Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback lost a prominent campaign volunteer in spectacular fashion after word got back to her that he had called her an obscure internet slur.
According to the Miami New Times, "Gianna Tagliarini had returned home after a day of campaigning for far-right Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback at the Hillsborough County Fair when her phone started dinging with texts from him. 'Come here,' Fishback wrote in a message that arrived at 10:34 p.m., a screenshot of which was shared with New Times. Tagliarini, a 30-year-old single mom who held an unpaid volunteer position as the campaign’s Hillsborough County chair, asked where, then began calling other members of the campaign."
She was reportedly "suspicious about Fishback’s intentions," and tried to suggest they meet at a public place to prevent anything untoward from happening.
"Immediately after, Tagliarini says, a friend who was also working for the campaign called to tell her Fishback had been reading the texts to a group of male volunteers in a hotel lobby — including a minor," said the report. "Bryant Fulgham, who served in an unpaid role as a liaison between the county chairs and Fishback’s leadership team, told Tagliarini that Fishback had also called her a 'foid,' a term originating from Internet forums like 4chan, meaning 'female humanoid.'"
This ultimately made her leave the campaign.
Fishback, a 31-year-old hedge fund investor who is running an underdog campaign against President Donald Trump's endorsed gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Byron Donalds, has gathered a cult following of far-right youth and internet influencers — but has constantly landed himself in controversy in the process.
He has repeatedly and unabashedly made racist statements, claiming Donalds, who is Black, would turn Florida into a "ghetto" and even telling a Black voter he "should be lynched" for asking about sexual misconduct allegations against him. He has also vowed to shoot anyone who threatens his campaign staff and volunteers with an AR-15.