The headline on Drudge was innocuous enough: “Star FL politician found in Miami Beach hotel room with suspected meth.”
I figured it was some up and coming mayor or candidate who would be well known to Floridians, but not to the average citizen.
Then I clicked on the Drudge headline and discovered the real headline on the Tampa Bay Times story: “Andrew Gillum found in a Miami Beach hotel room with suspected drugs, police say.”
Gee, I thought, isn’t Andrew Gillum well enough known that he deserves to have his name prominently displayed by Drudge? After all, he was very nearly elected governor of Florida in 2018, was considered by Hillary Clinton to be her running mate in 2016, and is a CNN political analyst. More to the point, if he were a Republican, wouldn’t his name be plastered across every website and news site from here to kingdom come?
Yeah, I know, everyone is obsessed with coronavirus right now, and with good reason, but that doesn’t mean Gillum should escape due public scrutiny. I wonder how many shows will ever get around to Gillum’s ugly saga, and what will happen to his contract on CNN?
Here’s the lede from the Tampa Bay Times:
“Andrew Gillum, who in 2018 came within 34,000 votes of becoming Florida’s governor, was discovered by police at a South Beach hotel early Friday morning in a room with bags of possible methamphetamine and in the company of a man who appeared to have overdosed on drugs, according to a Miami Beach police report.”
It gets worse.
“Police say Gillum, who was not arrested, was too intoxicated to answer questions. An offense incident report says that officers found three clear plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth on the bed and floor.”
According to the news story, Gillum “was not arrested and was allowed to return home ‘without incident.'”
Imagine that! He’s not even a Kennedy!
Gillum later issued a statement saying he was drunk as a skunk, but had never used methamphetamines in his life — scout’s honor!” He said he was drunk because he had been attending a wedding. He also apologized “to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement,” whatever that means.
But wait! It gets worse.
The National Review is reporting that Travis Dyson, the man having a heart attack in the room with Gillum is probably a “male escort” with that name.
They also quote Dyson being interviewed by the Miami New Times,
“I personally was not celebrating a wedding. I don’t know if [Gillum] was in town for a wedding. He did not mention that,” Dyson said. “We’ve been friends for a while,” Dyson added before going silent.
But wait! It gets worse!
Aldo Mejias, the man who called 911 after finding Dyson incapacitated, “told police that he gave his credit card to Travis Dyson, 30, to rent a hotel room for the trio for the night,” according to National Review.
Whoa! That may be too much information!
Wait! It gets even worse! Much worse!
According to theblaze.com, Gillum was showing off his shortcomings when police arrived:
“A source with direct knowledge of the Miami Beach Police Department’s response to the scene told TheBlaze that first responders said they allegedly found Gillum in a state of complete undress and Dyson wearing ‘chaps,’ which Dictionary.com defines as ‘a kinky or provocative article of clothing, which leave the butt and sometimes crotch exposed,’ when they arrived at the Mondrian South Beach Hotel room.”
FINAL UPDATE: Checked back on Drudge Report two days later, and found Gillum’s name now attached to the headline.
The new story from the New York Post is devastating, as it cites Dyson’s post as a gay male escort on RentMen.com although under a pseudonym.
“Dyson also identified himself as a “pornstar performer” who offered services including “gay massage.” He went by the name Brodie Scott on his Rent-Men profile.”
Perhaps the most tragic paragraph from the New York Post story is this:
“Gillum has been married to wife R. Jai Gillum since 2009. Together. the couple has three children.”
Maybe Gillum will still face consequences, but don’t count on it. As Tallahassee Mayor, Gillum was implicated in an FBI investigation into corrupt practices but he got off with a slap on the wrist and a $5000 fine from the Florida Ethics Commission.
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Frank Miele has spent four decades in the news business and now offers conservative commentary to counter the left-wing bias in the national media. If you enjoy reading these daily essays, I hope you will consider purchasing one of my books. They are available through the following Amazon links. My new book — “The Media Matrix: What if everything you know is fake?” — shows that Fake News has been around for years. The “Why We Needed Trump” trilogy tackles the politics of the last two decades: Part 1 is subtitled “Bush’s Global Failure: Half Right.” Part 2 is “Obama’s Fundamental Transformation: Far Left.” Part 3 is “Trump’s American Vision: Just Right.” As an Amazon Associate, I may earn referral fees for qualifying purchases through links on my website. Also consider subscribing to Heartland Diary on YouTube by clicking here for News Every Conservative Can Use. My goal is to reach 1,000 subscribers.
