Florida Dem Andrew Gillum Reportedly Involved in Meth Bust, Found in 'Inebriated State'
Democrat Andrew Gillum, who narrowly lost the Florida gubernatorial race in the 2018 midterm election, was involved in a meth-related incident early Friday morning in Miami Beach, according to multiple reports.
The news was first reported by conservative commentator Candace Owens on Twitter.
Owens, along with the Miami Herald and other news outlets, cited a Miami Beach police report that said the incident involved two other men.
Police said Gillum, a former mayor of Tallahassee, was “unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state.”
WPLG-TV reported that a call was made to 911 at 1 a.m. Friday from a hotel room.
Police and paramedics responded to the scene and found Gillum with two other men, one of whom appeared to be suffering from a drug overdose.
The police report said three bags of what was suspected to be crystal methamphetamine were found “in plain sight.”
Gillum left the hotel room and “returned to his residence without incident,” the police report said.
#BREAKING: Andrew Gillum was in an “inebriated state” on scene of “possible drug overdose” at Mondrian South Beach Hotel early this morning with “clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth,” according to @MiamiBeachPD report pic.twitter.com/4tWzkdU4GL
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) March 13, 2020
Gillum denied using meth in a statement Friday.
“While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines,” he said.
The former mayor said he was in Miami for a “wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends.”
Gillum: “I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines.”
Apologizes for “distraction this has caused our movement.” pic.twitter.com/TDY7mnZGYO
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) March 13, 2020
This is not the first time Gillum has appeared in scandalous headlines.
During the 2018 election, he was caught up in a corruption probe that included the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Text messages indicated he had accepted free tickets to a production of the hit Broadway show “Hamilton” from an undercover FBI agent.
During a gubernatorial debate with Republican candidate (and later governor) Ron DeSantis, Gillum had denied taking the tickets for free.
Why was he not arrested by Police? Because of who he is? If it was not a Democrat hero they called a rising star everyone in that room would be arrested on the spot and charged with joint possession of these narcotics.
— Pasquinal (@Roger96203916) March 13, 2020
In January 2019, Gillum’s campaign was hit with charges of violating ethics laws.
Four months later, the FBI subpoenaed records from his gubernatorial campaign.
Since his electoral defeat, Gillum has been a contributor to CNN.
While Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams has had far more visibility in claiming that the results of a 2018 election were invalid because of voter suppression, Gillum briefly rescinded an Election Day concession before ultimately conceding the race to DeSantis.
While some on the left blamed Floridians’ supposed racism for Gillum’s 2018 loss, such claims are belied by the fact that Barack Obama won the state in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
Gillum said in his statement Friday that he would “spend the next few weeks with my family” and that he would “appreciate privacy.”
That seems like a good idea, although it remains to be seen just what exactly he was doing being inebriated in a hotel room with two men at 1 in the morning.
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