Peak ‘Florida Man’? Ex-Tallahassee mayor denies using crystal meth after he was found in hotel room with overdosed male escort

Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum is taking a break from public life after police walked in on what has been described as a crystal meth-fueled orgy - but which he insists was just a wedding celebration where he drank too much.

Gillum was “unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state” when police chanced upon him in a hotel room at Miami’s South Beach Mondrian on Thursday night, responding to another man’s “possible drug overdose,” revealed the police report, leaked via Twitter on Friday.

The police were concerned enough to request a second “welfare check” on Gillum, while they took his stricken companion to the hospital.

But while Gillum eventually sobered up enough to “return to his residence without incident,” the cops found and confiscated “three small baggies” of “suspected crystal meth” that were apparently lying in plain sight in the hotel room.

The former mayor of Tallahassee and would-be governor released a statement flatly denying any involvement with the drugs, though he admitted he had “had too much to drink” by the time “first responders were called to assist one of my friends.”

Gillum claimed he was in Miami for a “wedding celebration” and requested “privacy” while he spent the next few weeks with his family.

I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.

It’s not clear whether the police allowed Gillum to walk despite the contraband because of his political position, or whether he left before the drugs were noticed. The situation was “not being investigated as a criminal matter,” Miami Beach PD spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said in a statement.

That did not stop social media from seizing on Gillum’s extracurricular activities, perhaps as a distraction from the coronavirus craze, with some wondering whether Gillum was seeking to assume the position of legendary "Florida Man," having missed out on the governor’s seat by a mere 34,000 votes back in 2018.

Conservatives had a field day, using the incident to tar the Democratic Party as a whole… and CNN, where Gillum became a contributor after losing the governor’s race.

Others suggested that Gillum’s denials were only proof of his guilt…

…a theory that was bolstered by Gillum’s companion, now recovered from his wild night, telling the Miami New Times he knew nothing about this supposed “wedding celebration.” 

Some commentators opted to embellish the police report, turning the apparently drug-fueled gathering sexual. 

Of course, the Democrat who nearly became the governor of Florida had his defenders as well.

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