WASHINGTON (JTA) — 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, had on Twitter called 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 President Donald Trump.
