A newly unearthed video shows Charlie Crist, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, comparing himself to Jesus Christ and calling Republican governor Ron DeSantis “DeSatan.”
The video, which was shared by DeSantis’s campaign on Monday, is from a March 17 event, according to the Daily Caller.
Crist suggested the race for governor in the Sunshine State is about “decency” and “being kind to everyone” before saying of DeSantis, “You know some people call him DeSatan? Have you heard that?”
In just one minute, Charlie Crist compares himself to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Jesus Christ. pic.twitter.com/Y921vt1qAB
— DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) September 12, 2022
“DeSatan versus that,” Crist said, gesturing to a sign behind him featuring his own name, and one of the event attendees said, “Christ!”
Crist responded, “Oh think about it! Boom!”
Earlier, he compared himself to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Look at that sign right there. You see the colors? The blue and the yellow. Does that remind you of any country that’s in the news?” he said.
After members of the audience said, “Ukraine,” Crist said, “Yeah, we’re fighting for freedom too. And Zelensky, President Zelensky, he’s amazing.”
Switching the topic back to DeSantis, Crist said: “It is crystal clear. He’s bad, we’re good.”
Crist, who is the former governor of Florida and served in the U.S. House of Representatives until resigning last month to focus on his campaign, made similarly disparaging comments last month when he won the Democratic primary.
“Those who support the governor should stay with him,” he said during a press conference. “I don’t want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there.”
Crist faces long odds against DeSantis in November: FiveThirtyEight gives DeSantis a 92 percent chance of winning reelection in a state that has increasingly shifted to the right in recent years. Florida Republicans saw a voter-registration advantage over Republicans for the first time in the state’s history in December 2021. By March 2022, Republicans had notched a 100,000 voter-registration advantage.
DeSantis also has a massive $140 million reelection fund at his disposal.