The Democratic Senate candidate for Florida, Angie Nixon, sparked significant controversy by not directly answering whether she considers Cuba a dictatorship during an interview with CBS News, less than a week before the midterm elections on November 3.
The journalist Cristian Benevides asked Nixon if he considers Cuba —the communist nation 90 miles off the coast of Florida— a dictatorship.
The response was evasive: “That's what I've been told. I've never been to Cuba, so I'll have to believe them”, he replied.
The statement immediately raised alarms in a state where more than 1.6 million Cuban-Americans —primarily concentrated in Miami-Dade and Broward— make up a historically decisive electoral bloc that is particularly sensitive to any stance that could be interpreted as condescending towards the regime in Havana.
The Republican reaction
Senator Ashley Moody, Nixon's rival for the seat left by Marco Rubio, responded immediately.
"Can the socialist Angie not answer whether Cuba is a dictatorship? I suppose now we know why she voted against the Florida law that requires teaching the dangers of communism in schools," Moody said.
The Republican candidate for governor Byron Donalds was more emphatic.
"It is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard. Of course, the Castro regime is a dictatorship. It is sad to see what the Democratic Party has become. They are completely consumed by socialism," Donalds replied.
The senator Rick Scott drew a parallel with other Democratic controversies: "Just like many of his colleagues who seem unable to define what a woman is, we now have a Senate candidate who cannot define a dictatorship."
The spokesperson for the Republican National Committee of Congress, Maureen O'Toole, escalated the attack: “The socialist Angie Nixon can't even refer to the Cuban regime for what it is: an oppressive dictatorship that has stripped its citizens of their dignity, rights, and freedoms for decades.”
Nixon strikes back and criticizes the embargo
CBS News initially reported that Nixon "declined to say" whether Cuba is a dictatorship, but later removed those posts following the candidate's protest, who accused the network of a "serious editorial failure" and spreading "misinformation."
“I clearly state in this clip that, although I have not been to Cuba personally, I have spoken with Cubans who have described it as a dictatorship, and I believe them,” Nixon wrote on X.
In the same interview, Nixon defended lifting the embargo and resuming the engagement policy of former President Barack Obama.
"This failed decades-long embargo has not succeeded in changing the regime. I have spoken with Cuban Americans who have family in Cuba. They told me that they are suffering even more now," he stated.
He also criticized the deportations of Cubans promoted by the Trump administration.
"I have opposed Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, and Ashley Moody agreeing to send Cubans back to Cuba, or even to African countries," stated the Democratic candidate.
The significance of the Cuban vote and the electoral context
The statements arrive with early voting in Miami-Dade already underway—28 centers open until November 1—and the latest polls showing Moody ahead by between four and 11 points, with an 11-point gap specifically among Cuban Americans.
Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America since June 2026, outperformed Moody in fundraising during the third quarter — 7.6 million compared to 5.8 million dollars — although the Republican senator had more cash available for the final stretch.
Moody, who co-sponsored the DEMOCRACY Act to freeze assets and deny entry to the U.S. to Cuban officials, has described the Havana government as a "murderous communist dictatorship."
The distance between both candidates regarding Cuba could hardly be greater, and the voters of South Florida will have the final say on November 3.
Filed under: