Miami Sen. Dwight Bullard Targeted by GOP Rep's Racist Tweet

You probably thought the Florida House was done embarrassing itself for the year. After all, house Republicans grabbed their ball and went home Tuesday, canceling the rest of the session rather than dealing with an impasse with the senate over Medicaid. But it's never wise to underestimate Florida GOP representatives' pure will to bring shame upon themselves.

Enter Rep. Matt Gaetz, a powerful Republican from the Panhandle. With no bills to shepherd through, Gaetz had plenty of time yesterday to craft a tweet aimed at Miami Sen. Dwight Bullard that critics quickly branded racist and left fellow senators demanding an apology.

Here's the tweet, which Gaetz has yet to delete or back away from:

This lawsuit reads like it was researched and drafted by Sen Joyner......and spell checked by Sen Bullard #sayfie

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) April 30, 2015

To get the criticism, some backstory is in order: Gaetz is making fun of a petition filed by senate Democrats asking the courts whether the GOP's early adjournment of the session was legal. The filing included a couple of typos, which Gaetz latched onto to mock its authors.

Fair enough. Except Gaetz decided to make fun of Sen. Arthenia Joyner and Bullard, who are both black. Though Joyner, as senate minority leader, played a visible role in the petition, Bullard didn't. Indeed, two white senators — Sen. Darren Soto and Maria Sachs — actually did most of the work crafting the thing.

So why target Bullard by suggesting he can't spell? Critics thought it was pretty clear.

@mattgaetz You are a racist and you should resign in shame.

— stsmith222 (@stsmith222) May 1, 2015

@mattgaetz Congratulations on confirming the reality and nuance of white privilege yet again. You make your racist brethren proud.

— SAHM(stuck@home mom) (@banacuhaha) May 1, 2015

@mattgaetz Nice job being racist, sexist and anti-teacher in one Tweet.

— Ron Vargo (@Alterity1) April 30, 2015

As criticism mounted, senators began joining the fray and demanding an apology from Gaetz:

@mattgaetz This is absolutely disgraceful for a public official to say!

— Senator Jack Latvala (@JackLatvala) April 30, 2015

So far, though, Gaetz has remained steadfast that his Twitter humor was legit:

I'm sure liberal members of the Senate would rather talk about a tweet than about forcing Obamacare on Florida

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) April 30, 2015

After hours of building outrage on Twitter, Bullard himself weighed in last night — taking the high road by suggesting a bill written by a civil rights "icon" like Joyner and spell-checked by a high-school teacher like Bullard wouldn't be the worst way to craft a bill: 

Hmm @mattgaetz drafted by a former bar association Pres and civil rights icon and spell checked by a HS teacher #winning #sayfie

— Dwight Bullard (@DwightBullard) April 30, 2015

Gaetz could still face more blowback over the tweet. The National Bar Association is looking into the matter, the Florida Times Union reports, and even Gaetz's dad — ex-senate president Don Gaetz — may try to get him to apologize.

Update: Gaetz has kinda apologized with a "sorry if you were offended" message this morning. And amazingly for a guy who started this whole thing by making fun of typos, it includes an incorrect use of "it's."

My criticisms of ObamaCare Expansion and it's supporters are based solely on the facts. Deeply sorry if anyone read more into it than that.

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) May 1, 2015