DeSantis alleges Crist’s running mate’s union ‘protected’ alleged sex offender

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that his political opponent’s choose for lieutenant governor ought to be disqualified for proximity to an alleged sex offender.

The governor took the swipe throughout an unrelated press convention held in Fort Pierce. It was the Republican’s first time publicly commenting on Charlie Crist’s running mate, Karla Hernández, who Crist announced over the weekend.

DeSantis stated United Teachers of Dade (UTD), the instructor union led by Hernández, “protected” a member accused of sexual misconduct for years.

“You do not put union politics ahead of middle school students who are in danger of being sexually abused,” DeSantis stated. “I think that’s disqualifying to be in any political office — much less lieutenant governor of the state of Florida.”

The instructor in query is Wendell Nibbs, a former Miami-Dade educator. He pleaded guilty in 2020 to 2 counts of sexual exercise with a toddler. Nibbs’ plea got here after years of allegations and ongoing police investigations since no less than 2015.

The DeSantis marketing campaign has tried to offer gasoline to its allegations of a connection on-line for days. The “DeSantis WarRoom” account has tweeted a number of photos of Nibbs and Hernández collectively at union occasions and gatherings.

The Crist Campaign has flatly rejected all of it.

“It’s a lie,” Samantha Ramirez, Crist’s marketing campaign communications director, stated in a press release. “And to top it off, it’s coming from a governor whose own campaign was led by accused child sexual predator Matt Gaetz, and whose disgusting [sic] actions DeSantis still refuses to condemn. While Ron DeSantis shields sexual predators in his own party, Karla Hernández is a former special needs teacher who has devoted her life to serving the people of her community.”

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is the topic of a federal sex trafficking investigation and has not confronted any costs.

The Crist marketing campaign additionally famous that UTD does not rent attorneys for lecturers and depends on authorities or faculties to do background checks. They stated that though Nibbs was a “building steward” within the union, he was chosen by native members, not management.

Crist, in the meantime, has taken photographs of his personal at DeSantis’ Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez.

“What did the current lieutenant governor do?” the Democrat requested reporters at a press gathering final week. “She just said Cuban immigrants to Florida, we’re going to ship them out of the state.”

Crist’s phrases come after Nuñez did a Spanish-language interview with WURN (Actualidad Radio), earlier this month. The lieutenant governor was discussing DeSantis’ plans for undocumented migrants.

“The governor isn’t going to stand there with his arms crossed,” Nuñez stated. “He’s thinking what he’s going to do. He’s going to send them, frankly, to the state of Delaware, the president’s state.”

Nuñez has said she was referring to these getting into the nation illegally and never asylum seekers. She maintains that Democrats and the Crist marketing campaign have misrepresented her feedback.