CNN’s John Avlon on Trump’s Andrew Gillum Tweet: ‘This is Stone Cold Racism’

CNN’s John Avlon broke down President Donald Trump‘s baseless attack on Democratic candidate for Florida governor Andrew Gillum, calling it “stone cold racism.”

In a Monday tweet, Trump weighed into the Florida gubernatorial race, pushing a stark contract between the two candidates: Republican candidate Ron DeSantis, “a Harvard/Yale educated man,” and Gillum, “a Dem who is a thief and who is Mayor of poorly run Tallahassee, said to be one of the most corrupt cities in the Country!”

“This is stone cold racism,” Avlon said on CNN Tuesday. “This is not subtle.”

“There’s the absurdity of the Harvard, Yale, Ivy-league, educated populist Trumper, and then just a flat-out libel of the Democratic candidate,” he said.

Avlon noted there is a federal investigation into Tallahassee’s city government, but that “has nothing to do with stealing money.” There is also no evidence Gillum is being investigated personally.

Avlon said that “thief” is not a phrase Trump uses often, using it only once since he ran for president, to describe Hillary Clinton. “That indicates intentionality. He knows what he’s doing. And he’s intentionally trying to have a late inning argument that polarizes the electorate along race.”

“And the problem for Ron DeSantis, is that what helps you in the primary  — hugging Donald Trump — hurts you in the general,” he added.

New Day host John Berman agreed with Avlon. Earlier in the segment, he called Trump’s tweet “a racist dog-whistle, pure and simple.”

Watch both clips above, via CNN.