America 1982-Chapter 548 - 111: Formidable People, You Shall Witness, The Terror of the Battlefield, You Must See It!_3

"Gerard, why don’t you chat with us now about what you plan to do next, after you’ve had the veterans beat up the Cubans," a middle-aged white man turned his gaze from the television screen to Gerard Richman’s face, his voice coldly opening.

Another white elder’s eyes moved sluggishly, slowly turning towards Gerard Richman. Although he tried to remain calm, everyone in the room could hear the anger in his words:

"Seven minutes ago, there was a live broadcast on TV, where a veteran shouted into the camera that he was going to the plantation to hunt down those Cuban workers. These words made the owner of the Chapman plantation call me, questioning if the two hundred thousand he donated to the Democratic Party was meant to be repaid like this? Sending over a thousand battle-hardened veterans to flood his plantation and slaughter his cheap Cuban workers like lambs? His last words before hanging up the phone were that he decided to donate an additional two hundred thousand to the Republican Party. You’ve cost us a lot of large donations, Gerard."

Gerard Richman tried to look unfazed by the gathering, but still, his speech was involuntarily faster than usual. He looked back at the several people and said, "Jeff Rush wouldn’t do this. Even if he’s a fool, he should understand that inciting these veterans to go to the Eighteenth District to cause trouble for the Cubans just gives us a reason to suspend his party activities. Besides, right after the veteran incident, I immediately pulled in another black candidate to speak out, stating that we and the Democratic Party we understand absolutely oppose such violence and that Cubans should be protected. This should make the Cubans in the district understand that everything is a personal act of Jeff Rush, unrelated to the party."

Upon hearing Gerard’s words, someone immediately scoffed, "Why aren’t the Cubans driving to the Southern District from the Eighteenth District as calm and optimistic as you? As soon as the rally started, the cops in the Eighteenth District were thrilled to find they were having the easiest day of the year."

"That fool’s wife got scared by the Cubans and ended up in the hospital after crashing on the roadside. He went to apologize to the Cubans who were beaten up by your veterans and got paint splashed on him by the Cubans. And now you still expect that fool to remain calm and put the Democratic Party first?"

Gerard’s brow twitched frequently. Who could have expected this bastard named Jeff Rush to not play by the normal script? Gerard, having no choice but to act the day after the primary, had some veterans beat up the Cubans. He was very clear that if he didn’t take action, he would definitely be out in the subsequent election. In the second internal election, the two competing candidates would be either Rona and Jeff, or Joanna and Jeff—either way, his chances were slim.

Rona and Joanna, he couldn’t afford to offend these two women. Unlike Jeff Raven, he had always been a grassroots idle member in the party; if it weren’t for this election, probably the Democratic Party office in Miami wouldn’t even know they had such a member. Gerard was a well-educated black man who had been involved in the Democratic Party’s work in Miami from an early stage. Whenever the Democratic Party in Miami needed to conduct some activities among the black community, it was often his responsibility, which gradually earned him some fame among the black community and also recognition within the Democratic Party.

For instance, this special election in the Eighteenth District was an opportunity he got after years of hard work lobbying on behalf of party bigwigs within the black community.

From the very start, he knew his chances of winning were slim, but that wasn’t important. What he wanted was to at the very least maintain a second or third-place position within the party, because that way, he could negotiate cooperation with the first-place candidate, having his supporters back the other in exchange for a favorable position elsewhere, such as support into the state legislature or securing a substantial state-level position.

However, if he ended up in fourth place, he wouldn’t even have the qualifications to negotiate cooperation. Even though he donated a substantial sum of money to the Veterans Association before the campaign started, in the end, those faithless old bastards all supported Jeff Rush!

And normally, Jeff Rush should be eager to distance himself from this situation, but instead, this guy brazenly orchestrated this rally, with over a thousand veterans pouring into the Eighteenth District, just waiting for his command to let the Cubans feel the freedom vibe of America.

Even now, Gerard still believed Jeff couldn’t possibly be serious about taking the veterans to trouble the Cubans, because even hurting illegal immigrants is a serious crime.

Or rather, deep down he even hoped Jeff would actually lead the veterans to kill those Cubans, preferably some Cuban-American citizens, so that Jeff Rush would be completely out of the picture, and he would still have a chance to secure second place and seek a role at the state government level.

"Switch the channel to BT Television Network’s local station," a full-time party worker walked in and whispered to the elderly white man at the head of the table, after which the elder looked up and said.

The middle-aged man picked up the remote control and switched the channel to BT Television Network’s local Miami station. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the TV where a black host was reporting the news against the backdrop of a large group of Cubans burning Jeff Rush’s banners, with several black men in workclothes lying on the ground still being kicked by Cubans:

"This is the appalling violence against black people that has occurred recently in Miami. Large groups of Cubans are publicly beating several American black workers. We thought whites had stopped enslaving blacks and that blacks had finally attained freedom, but we didn’t expect that when whites chose to step back, Cubans chose to step forward."

Before Gerard Richman could recover, the host had already switched the background to Gerard’s speech from earlier that morning:

"And in this situation, Gerard Richman, the black candidate for the House of Representatives from Miami’s Eighteenth District, has called for the protection of Cubans. Gerard Richman, James Meg, two gentlemen, may I ask, when you said in front of the camera that blacks protect Cubans, did you consult those who were beaten by the Cubans?"