“I’m not wrong a lot in my life,” says Florida Democrat and gubernatorial candidate, Nikki Fried. 

Oh boy.

If that’s not enough of a hint towards the attitude of the individual we are dealing with here… What a way to start off an interview with the next potential governor of Florida.

Fried believes she’s got what it takes to defeat “authoritarian” Governor Ron DeSantis this coming election. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

The Florida native and Commissioner of Agriculture is running for governor this fall and she wants you to vote for her because she wants to “work together” with elected officials to fight the vast “division” and “cultural tensions” in the state of Florida. 

“I am somebody who wants to reach across the aisle and work together. That’s why [we] got elected. The people of our state don’t want divisiveness. I am not the extreme. I am outside of the box. I am not a traditional democrat. I am somebody who is going to fight for issues, not for a party. People want somebody who is going to be true, who is going to be real,” says Fried. 

After calling Governor DeSantis a dictator and authoritarian figure in the recent PBD podcast, it’s hard to believe her intention is unity.

Nov. 2, 2019, Nikki Fried, Democratic candidate for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, speaks during a campaign rally, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

It was always “his way or the highway. He yelled at anyone who didn’t agree with him. His opinion was the only opinion,” she claims.

This doesn’t sound like the Ron DeSantis most Floridians know of and fled their hometowns for. Millions of Americans left states like New York and California during the pandemic for a reason. Many came to Florida for DeSantis. Most came for freedom. 

Fried disagrees. She believes that “regardless of what happened with the pandemic, we have to move past it.”

Vehemently disagreeing, PBD asks Fried what she believes has caused the massive influx of California and New York residents to leave their states.

“I have never done an analysis of what New York and California did,” Nikki responds. 

Nikki Fried seems to believe that there are many unhappy people living in Florida.  

“They come down here, they didn’t realize how bad the culture wars are here. Especially for those who have kids in the LGBTQ community… [people] didn’t realize how much tension there is here. Contention. You can’t talk to your neighbors,” says Fried.

Tension? In Florida? Clearly, she hasn’t been to New York or California in the last two years…

Watch the full podcast and interview here:

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