Article snippet: Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican MORE faced off Sunday night in a heated debate that underscored the intense political divisions at play not just in Florida, where the two are vying to become the next governor, but across the U.S. as well. The debate went off the rails at times, with Gillum and DeSantis landing several aggressive blows against one another. Former Rep. DeSantis sought to cast Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, as a failed leader, whose policy proposals would drag Florida into economic ruin. Meanwhile, Gillum painted DeSantis as an acolyte of MORE, who would blindly take his cues from the White House. Here are five takeaways from the contentious debate. Trump plays a dominating role in the race During Florida’s gubernatorial primaries, DeSantis surged to victory on the back of Trump, while Gillum positioned himself as a staunch critic of the president. Sunday night’s debate demonstrated that dynamic hasn’t changed. As the war of words got underway, Gillum came out swinging, accusing DeSantis of being a foot soldier for Trump’s agenda. At one point, he called DeSantis an “acolyte” to the president. “Donald Trump is weak and he performs as all weak people do,” Gillum said. “They become bullies.” The Tallahassee mayor also accused DeSantis of seeking to protect Trump from special counsel MORE’s probe into possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia. DeSantis was quick to cast himself as the candidate who, if elected, would work... Link to the full article to read more