An online forum in Florida went viral this week after a hot mic caught some colorful language from one of the candidates.
Palm Beach County Sheriff candidate Michael Gauger vented his frustration at the end of a virtual event hosted by the organization When We All Vote Palm Beach Voting Squad, surprising participants and making headlines.
Gauger's primary Republican opponent, Bartow Police Cpt. Lauro Diaz was on the receiving end of the outburst when he was called “an a-hole.”
After spending the last 16 years as Democratic Sheriff Ric Bradshaw's chief deputy, Gauger is on a mission to convince voters that he is the most qualified Republican candidate to take on him. But the challenges for the former Democrat-turned-Republican, who spent decades at the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office before retiring in 2021, multiplied after he appeared to have collapsed during the Zoom call .
“Look at my story. Look at what I've accomplished. Look at what I've built,” Gauger said as seen in the image video posted on YouTube. “I have a history of holding people accountable, even more so when the person I worked for didn't.”
(Video Credit: When We All Vote Palm Beach Voting Template)
“You've heard a lot of 'me, me, me' in everything that sounds good and has gone well, and then 'them, them, them' in everything that's gone wrong,” Diaz said in his closing remarks on the call .
“The fact is, 50 years is too long to be there, the second of the last 16 years, and now he's criticizing (Bradshaw) and everything that's wrong,” Diaz said of his opponent. “He's part of the problem. He's the problem.”
Gauger appeared to be visibly angry during Diaz's remarks and when the candidate finished speaking, he declared, “You're a king a-hole.”
Diaz and Democratic candidate Alex Freeman reacted with a surprised, “Wow,” as the moderator, Assistant State Attorney General Cheo Reid, tried to wrap things up.
“Gauger can't keep his cool during a conversation. He's unfit to protect our community! President Trump lives here and is protected by the sheriff! We can't let him win!” Conservative commentator, attorney and BizPac Review contributor Erin Elmore wrote to X, sharing the clip.
Palm Beach County voters: Watch this clip of Gauger for Sheriff calling his opponent a hole. Gauger can't keep his cool during a conversation. It is not fit to protect our community! President Trump lives here and is protected by the sheriff! We can't let him win! pic.twitter.com/4NLLTikrH5
— Erin Elmore, Esq. (@ErinElmore) July 25, 2024
The attack shocked those watching the debate and quickly went viral, even being picked up as a top story TMZ, and became a national embarrassment for Republicans in Palm Beach County, home of former President Donald Trump. The 76-year-old candidate launched into damage control, arguing that he didn't know his microphone was on and didn't realize the video screen was still visible.
“I was working on Zoom from my cell phone. I had no idea my personal video was live. Plus it showed I was muted when I wasn't talking,” she posted to the group Facebook page
“After hearing the closure of Mr. Diaz where he distorted my service record and his personal history, saying things he knows are not true, I was frustrated. I muttered to myself, “You're an idiot.” Sitting alone in a room, I had no idea I was live,” Gauger continued. “I apologize to the members of 'When We Vote,' the moderator, and the people listening. It's not language I would use in an open forum or public setting.”
After the microphone debacle, Diaz said his opponent is “a person who cannot take criticism in any way, shape or form.”
“And this is not the first time he has done it; it's just the first time it's been shot on film,” he said Florida politics.
The other candidate, Freeman, who challenged Bradshaw in 2016 and 2020, said Gauger “was off balance” after the incident.
“When you're running for office, people are going to say things that can rub you the wrong way,” said the deputy chief of the Colony of Jupiter Inlet Police Department. “Responding this way makes me wonder how he treated and will treat the employees of the sheriff's office.”
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