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The ragebait candidate who wants to govern Florida

James Fishback espouses openly racist and antisemitic views. Young GOP voters are paying attention.

It can be hard to make sense of James Fishback. The longshot Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate is the son of an immigrant and fiercely nativist, a self-proclaimed finance success story turned economic populist, and both pro-Trump and running against President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate. He’s also openly racist and antisemitic.

But one thing is for sure: He’s getting a lot of attention.

Fishback is “someone who I think typically couldn’t be elected for dog catcher. But he’s kind of catching on,” Will Sommer, a senior reporter at the Bulwark, told Today, Explained co-host Sean Rameswaram recently. “He’s gaining in the polls, and while he still probably won’t win, I think he’s offering us a face of one potential future for the Republican Party.”

Sommer spoke with Sean about Fishback’s history, the movement he represents, and what could be next for him in Republican politics. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full episode, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

Where did this dude come from?

Just about nowhere. He was in finance. He was, apparently, according to court documents, a pretty low-level employee at a hedge fund. And then, he styled himself as this real hedge-fund expert.

They claim he made up his title, and that kind of became a meme in the finance community, because it was just so ridiculous. But through that, he managed to get on Fox Business a lot and leverage that into appearing that he’s this expert financier type.

And to further complicate the shape-shifting identity of this white supremacist candidate: He’s not… super… white.

This is one of the fascinating........

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