Even by the low standards of Governor DeSantis recent demagoguery and Covid_19 denialism this evening’s fundraising letter from his PAC was doozy.

Blatantly racist in its tone, DeSantis’ email blames illegal immigrants for the Covid problems in Florida and predictably avoids any discussion of unvaccinated and unmasked Floridians, which almost certainly support him disproportionately. The email blames President Biden for the COVID-19 crisis in Florida, which is laughable in so many ways.

The goal of this email is not only to hit President Biden but to create an impression that Latino migrants are the carriers of virus and that these undesirable non-Americans are responsible for any surge that the “real Americans “ (those who support DeSantis) are experiencing.

For the record, I believe illegal immigration suppresses wages and as a progressive, want stronger border protection so wages can be raised for the American worker (not just $15 an hour but more like $22-25 an hour, I believe should be the minimum wage if we do this right) without the ability of large corporations to import cheap labor illegally, undercutting wages. But this has nothing to do with that.

Much like President Trump’s “China Virus,” rhetoric of March and April 2020, DeSantis is urging his supporters to blame the “other” for the virus spread, in this case brown people from Mexico and Central America. Meanwhile DeSantis continues to encourage his supporters to not wear masks and is unwilling to allow private businesses the ability to make their workplaces safe by mandating mask wearing or vaccination records.

In the past I’ve wanted to believe DeSantis wasn’t a racist and argued endlessly with Democratic activists who would tell me he was, since I’ve believed the left overuses the terms “racist,” and “white supremacy.” But sometime when people show you who they are, you should believe them. I was wrong. DeSantis very clearly is either a racist or someone who is willing to create racial discord to raise money and score political points.

Shame on him. You can read the full fundraising appeal below.