Some of his best friends are monkeys

Florida Republican candidate for governor Ron DeSantis is in damage control mode after saying...well see for yourself...

Being endorsed by Trump makes you completely unelectable. Having your first racist gaffe less than one day after the primary makes you completely incompetent...and racist.

Isn't that just a common expression?

Among racists, yes.

I guess pretty much everything is racist when it comes to black people.

Despite using this expression all the time, I have never attached even the slightest bit of racial significance to it.

This is a silly attempt to smear DeSantis.

Wow, that is some racist bullshit right there. Clearly the use of monkey it up when referring directly to a black person as the monkey, which is what he did, is racial. He did not say monkey it up as meaning screw it up when using monkey in place of his opponent and not in place of screw.

But Paladin is pleased by referring to black people as monkeys. Are you in a competition with dinner to be the biggest racist on the board, or was this just the way you normally act?

This is dumb. It's a common phrase.

Just because you aren't aware of it being used against black people doesn't mean it isn't used.
I mean, hell, Dinner thinks "wetback" is a perfectly acceptable description of an "illegal" immigrant of Mexican descent. Does that mean he can use it without other people finding it offensive?

That aside, this was probably just a gaffe, albeit a really stupid one. To quote Hanlon's Razor, "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

I don't think this says what you think it says.

Considering the potential jump in black and Hispanic turnout in the midterms perhaps he figures why be bothered in a state where that is probably going to kill his chances if it happens. That does not sound very likely. All I know is he is down two votes as both grandparents have tossed their ballots already and decided voting is not for them this time.

If this were a kid, or even a teacher attempting to use a cute animal word on a mixed group I would give them the benefit of the doubt. I would never use monkey it up in a professional environment of adults because monkey is at best a silly term. The word is mess. You mess things up if you want to use the phrase without a questionable expletive like fuck or screw. This is an adult male speaking on a professional level to adults. Unless you are actually speaking of monkeys you don't use the term monkey and maintain your professional composure.

Still, when you are referencing the election of your black opponent messing things up and you switch to monkey that is either on purpose racial language, or you slipped and used your normal racial term by accident. Either way it is fucked up.

Among people who are scared to say "fuck things up" because Jesus? Well, I guess so.

It does require some awareness on the part of the politician in question, yes.

This guy was just monkeying around.

Can you hear the tune a'whistlin'?

Must be a Southern thing. Never heard this expression on either coast. "Fuck things up", "screw things up," yeah. Not this one.

As a matter fact I can, there it is. Written by a black man.

Chuck Berry is racist now.

Just how the fuck do you know how he meant it? He very well might have meant "screw it up" for all we know. Are you with the guy 24/7? How the fuck do you know whether he not he uses "monkey it up" on a regular basis?
Jesus Christ it's like you have your trusty Race Radar on full intensity at all times under all conditions.

I guess this puts a monkey wrench in this guy’s plans.

I definitely grew up with it (NorCal, '80s and '90s). Something getting monkeyed up is the metaphorical result of the metaphorical monkey wrench thrown in the works.

The Hill engages in fake news.
https://mobile.twitter.com/thehill/status/1034822744226054144

Which is why I figure it's more likely just a bit of temporary stupidity. It's all about context: Stand in the produce aisle, and tell a white guy not to buy too many watermelons. At best he might laugh, at worst he might tell you to mind your business. Tell a black guy not to buy too many watermelons, and there may not be much in the way of laughter.

Just violence, right?

Like Anna, the media looks for racism under every rock and in every Republican. This wouldn’t be a story if the media wasn’t making it one.

Regardless, this is 2018 so you better choose your words & phrases carefully. Think twice, three times if you need to before you speak, and consider who you are referring to/about at all times. You may think you "know what you mean" but you don't really know. The left knows what you are thinking and will school your racist/bigoted/homophobic ways right out of you and you better be thankful for it
or else!

Nothing would be a story if the media didn't make it one. That's how the media works, because otherwise you wouldn't know what was going on outside of your local public sphere.

Live TV, muck it up, monkey wrench, mash it up in your brain, = monkey up.

Why would you assume that?