JD Vance remarks Angie Nixon took center stage in Lakeland, Florida, when the vice president told her, “Then get the hell out of here. You don't belong in America if those are your views.” He made the comments while urging voters to support Ashley Moody in the November election.
Angie Nixon called the remarks “very disrespectful” and said she does not consider herself a socialist. She said her grandparents were sharecroppers in southern Georgia and argued that her politics are rooted in wanting quality health care and fully funded public schools.
Angie Nixon and JD Vance
Nixon said she is a lifelong Democrat who puts “people over party, people over politics, and people over profit.” She also said she joined the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, and the NAACP because she believes they are fighting to keep power in the hands of the people.
She drew a line between that affiliation and Vance’s attack. Nixon said she does not agree with all of the Democratic Socialists of America’s views, even as Vance described her as a self-described socialist during the rally.
Hope Florida and Ashley Moody
The exchange also pulled Ashley Moody into the race. Nixon said she does not want to abolish prisons because she wants Ashley Moody in one of them, and she accused Moody of stealing $10 million from sick kids and diverting it to two political PACS.
Nixon was referring to the Hope Florida controversy, which later drew a Leon County grand jury finding that the $10 million was misappropriated through what it called a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities. The grand jury also said there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally.
November election in Florida
Vance’s remarks put a Senate race dispute in front of a campaign audience in Florida and gave Nixon a new line of attack against Moody. Nixon said Moody has refused to debate her, leaving the race centered on competing claims about ideology, the Hope Florida dispute, and who should have to answer for those charges before the November election.
