Leading Florida Democrats disavow Bernie Sanders after he makes a complete mess of things

| 5:00 pm EST February 24, 2020
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Bernie Sanders has been the Democratic primary frontrunner for barely a day (if winning two out of the first three states even counts as being the “frontrunner”), and he’s already demonstrating why he’d have a difficult time beating Donald Trump. Sanders appeared on 60 Minutes last night and offered partial praise for Fidel Castro, which is just about the single quickest way a candidate can lose in Florida. Sanders’ remarks have put every Florida Democrat up for reelection in 2020 at risk if he’s the nominee. Not surprisingly, the Democrats in Florida are quickly disavowing him over it.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who has nationwide respect and popularity, tweeted this:

Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy tweeted this:

Democratic Congresswoman Donna Shalala tweeted this:

Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham tweeted this:

Florida State Senator José Javier Rodríguez tweeted this:

It’s not that Florida Democrats are trying to take sides in the Democratic primary race. It’s that Bernie Sanders’ partial praise of Fidel Castro is wildly inappropriate, and – as Gwen Graham puts it – political suicide. If Sanders is the nominee, Trump and the GOP run his pro-Castro comments all day long in TV ads. Not only would Sanders lose Florida in the general election, several current Democrats in Florida would lose their seats. Sanders simply cannot be the nominee. As he keeps proving, he’d find a way to lose to Trump.