Florida Gov. Candidate Says His Campaign Was Banned From Waffle House After Tucker Carlson Interview

The Tucker Carlson Show

Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, a Republican, announced on Wednesday that his campaign has been banned from every Waffle House in the state.

Fishback’s campaign has been riddled with scandal since he launched his bid to follow Ron DeSantis as Florida’s next governor last November. From reports that a Florida school district “cut ties” with the candidate after a student claimed he had an “inappropriate relationship” with her while she was underage, to his racist attack on his Trump-endorsed Republican primary rival, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Fishback’s scandals have drawn scrutiny and stymied fundraising.

The candidate made his bigoted comments about Donalds in a January interview with Tucker Carlson, who endorsed Fishback during their conversation. In the same interview, Fishback shared his plans to visit “every single Waffle House” in the state of Florida– a move he dubbed “a statewide Waffle House tour.”

In his statement announcing that his campaign had been banned from the restaurant chain on Wednesday, Fishback claimed he had initially been permitted to campaign inside those locations.

“In January, I announced on The Tucker Carlson Show that I would visit every Waffle House in Florida to meet voters where they are,” his statement read. “I was grateful that Waffle House Corporate gave us permission to do exactly that.”

Fishback claimed that permission was then revoked by the company, declining to give further details about the situation.

“This morning, Waffle House abruptly revoked our permission, and criminally trespassed us from all of their Florida locations,” he said. “I am disappointed in Waffle House’s decision, especially since they had given us explicit permission to visit their restaurants just 3 weeks ago.”

Waffle House Corporate has not yet commented on Fishback’s claims.

Fishback will face Donald and the current governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, in November. The latest polling from the University of North Florida gives Donalds a significant lead over DeSantis, with Fishback trailing in single digits.

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