The Democratic candidate for Florida lieutenant governor, Chris King, claimed that he lost his campaign to be president of Harvard University’s undergraduate council, part of the student government election, because he was “nailed to the cross” by the Jewish-majority student newspaper.
King, an evangelical Christian, lost in 1999 after the Harvard Crimson decided not to endorse him, remarking his ticket’s “ties to religious groups have raised concerns among students.”
“I was nailed to the cross,” King told the Newhouse News Service. “And most of the editorial staff that was so hard on me, the vast majority were Jewish.”
King apologized after it was initially detected in June by Orlando Rising, a progressive website. “This quote from when I was 20 years old is completely at odds with my beliefs,” the candidate said in a statement. “It was a hurtful and stupid comment, and I apologize.”
King is running alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum against Republican opponent Rep. Ron DeSantis.
Gillum has a 4.5 percentage point lead over DeSantis in a state with a high percentage of Jewish residents, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
This development comes as Gillum has been linked to the radical left-wing and anti-Israel group Dream Defenders, whose founder, Phillip Agnew, has ties to Ahmad Abuznaid, a supporter of the U.S.-designated terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
