Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Johanna Cervone issued the statement below following Jose Felix Diaz’s announcement to run in Senate district 40: 

 

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jose Felix Díaz is just another Trump wannabe since he was fired from Trump’s show “The Apprentice” for failing to get the job done and lead his team. Díaz wasn’t even enough of a leader to denounce his friend and roommate Frank Artiles’ racist and sexist comments, instead suggesting that the Senate should just “move on”. In fact, he even took money from Artiles’ political committee Veterans for Conservative Principals, the same committee that paid thousands of dollars to calendar girls and Playboy models who Artiles claimed were ‘political consultants’. It’s clear that Jose Felix Díaz would simply continue Trump and Artiles’ hateful rhetoric and policies.”

 

 

Jose Felix Díaz did not reject Frank Artiles’ racial slurs, and instead he dismissively suggested that the Senate “move on”:

 

“Another of the roommates, Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the head of the Miami-Dade legislative delegation, said he hasn’t seen Artiles all week because Diaz has been staying with family that’s in town. ‘I’ve never heard Frank talk like that before,’ Diaz said of the racist remarks. He declined to comment on whether Artiles should resign or whether the Senate should expel him. ‘It’s a Senate issue,’ he said. ‘It’s taking up all the bandwidth over there. There’s more focus on this situation than what we’re going to do as a state for the next 20 years in gaming.’ ‘I’m hoping that there’s some sort of resolution soon,’ Diaz added. ‘As a chamber I think we’re all ready to move on.’” [Miami Herald, 4/20/17]

 

 

 

This isn’t the first time Díaz shows a lack of leadership. He was fired from Donald Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice”​ for being unable to lead his team.

 

 

###