The national Republican Party and the Florida GOP drew fierce backlash Saturday — Valentine’s Day — over social media posts that critics condemned as juvenile and offensive.
On X, the national GOP account shared a cartoon-style image depicting Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (who has long been the subject of fat jokes from the political right) eating fast food alongside the caption: “My love for you is bigger than JB Pritzker.” See the post here.
The post quickly drew criticism, including from some Republicans.
Gregg Nunziata, a former adviser to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, slammed the targeting of Pritzker, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, as “disgraceful, juvenile garbage” and suggested it made it harder for him to remain in the party.
Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee communications director, criticized the post, writing: “This never would have gone out when I was running the RNC comms shop. Reveling in unprofessionalism.”
Meanwhile, the Florida GOP posted an AI-generated image of two alligators standing in front of a sign referencing “Alligator Alcatraz,” the informal name of the immigrant detention center in Florida’s Everglades that is surrounded by wetlands inhabited by the reptiles.
The accompanying caption read: “Don’t be a spaz, I wanna get locked up with you at Alligator Alcatraz.”