<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Courtesy of today’s (September 2, 2018) <i>Spokesman-Review</i> at:<div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/sep/01/racist-calls-linked-to-sandpoint-podcast-mock-flor/">http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/sep/01/racist-calls-linked-to-sandpoint-podcast-mock-flor/</a><br><div><br></div><div>———————————————</div><div><br></div><div><div><h1 class="f3 f2-l sans-serif mt0 mb2 fw8 lh-solid" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: 'liga' 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "avenir next", avenir, "helvetica neue", helvetica, ubuntu, roboto, noto, "segoe ui", arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; margin-top: 0px; font-size: 2.25rem; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Racist calls linked to Sandpoint podcast mock Florida’s black Democratic candidate</h1></div><div><br></div><div>Racist phone calls mocking Florida’s black Democratic gubernatorial nominee appear to be from a Sandpoint-based white supremacist podcast that has also taken credit for inflammatory robocalls in Iowa and California.</div><div><br></div><div>In the recorded calls, someone falsely identifying himself as Andrew Gillum speaks in a racist, old-time minstrel dialect while asking voters for their support. The calls, which according to the Gillum campaign started Friday, are said to be paid for by The Road to Power – an Idaho-based video podcast.</div><div><br></div><div>“This is reprehensible – and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity,” Gillum campaign spokesman Geoff Burgan said in a statement. Burgan said it’s unclear how widespread the calls have been, but that he’s only heard reports of them in Tallahassee, where Gillum is mayor.</div><div><br></div><div>Gillum’s Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, is not affiliated with the podcast behind the calls. His campaign spokesman, Stephen Lawson, called them “absolutely appalling and disgusting.”</div><div><br></div><div>“And hopefully whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action,” Lawson said in a statement.</div><div><br></div><div>Florida’s gubernatorial contest was racially charged even before the robocalls. During an appearance on Fox News after Tuesday’s primaries, DeSantis called Gillum – who is seeking to become Florida’s first black governor – an “articulate” candidate, but said “the last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting this state.” DeSantis’ campaign later said the congressman was referring to Gillum’s policies, not himself personally.</div><div><br></div><div>In Iowa, anti-immigrant robocalls from The Road to Power began Tuesday – two days after the funeral of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who authorities say was abducted and killed by a man believed to be in the U.S. illegally.</div><div><br></div><div>In California, The Road to Power took credit for anti-Semitic robocalls targeting Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier in July. DeSaulnier’s Republican opponent, John Fitzgerald, a Holocaust denier, wrote a July 11 post on his campaign website condemning the calls, saying they came from “a despicable, hate-filled person/organization who openly degrades ethnic groups in their podcasts and website …”</div><div><br></div><div>The podcast has been linked to a man who, according to police in the Idaho city of Sandpoint, was responsible for distributing racist CDs in a high school parking lot in December. That man, identified by police as Scott D. Rhodes, denied distributing the CDs when officers confronted him, according to The Spokesman-Review. Rhodes is also known by the surname Platek.</div><div><br></div><div>The Associated Press left a voicemail to Rhodes’ listed number in Sandpoint Saturday but the call was not returned.</div></div><div><br></div><div>———————————————<br><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></body></html>