Democrat Andrew Gillum Says He 'Cried' Every Day Since Florida Hotel Incident
Former Democrat Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum opened up in an interview with Tamron Hall scheduled to air next week about the South Beach hotel incident that derailed his political career.
Six months after the police found him too inebriated to respond in a hotel room while they dealt with a suspected drug overdose, Gillum sat down with Hall to share what brought him to that hotel room in the first place, adding that he “cried” every day since that incident took place, according to a preview aired on Good Morning America on Thursday.
“I would say, the reason why I went to that room is probably no different than how anybody might communicate with someone that they are in a friendship, relationship, whatever, with, ummmmm,” he said.
“I understand very well what people assumed about that,” he continued. “When that photo came out, I didn’t recognize the person on the floor. That was not anything more than a person being at their most vulnerable state. Unconscious, having given no consent and someone decided to use a moment where I was literally laying in my own vomit.”
He confessed at one point during the interview that he lost the will to live.
“So much of my recovery has been about trying to get over shame. The shame is not that I did that, but I am bad,” he said.
The incident took place back in March when the police discovered Gillum in a South Beach hotel room with another man with suspected bags of crystal meth.
First responders treated the other man, who was identified as an escort, for a possible overdose, according to a police report.
After the incident, Gillum entered a rehab facility for alcoholism and depression. He claimed both were triggered by losing the Florida gubernatorial race by razor-thin margins, the Tallahassee Democratreported.
He vanished from the spotlight for a while but reappeared in late July when he started tweeting about politics.
The interview will air Monday nationwide whenever Tamron Hall is broadcast locally.