Tallahassee, FL – An anti-police Florida gubernatorial candidate said he believed that if a police officer had to pull their duty weapon, they have gone too far.

Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum made the judgmental remarks during an interview on Oct. 24 with the “Pod Save America” podcast, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

He started by defending his record and arguing assertions that he is anti-police.

In an interesting messaging twist, instead of campaigning on support for law enforcement, Gillum’s platform has stressed that he is not an anti-police candidate.

“All this stuff that they say, I’ve got to let them know, anti-police? No. I’m for police accountability, but law enforcement society cannot work and, quite frankly, law enforcement cannot do its job if it does not have a trusting relationship with the community,” Gillum said on the podcast.

Gillum is challenging U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) for the governor’s seat about to be vacated by Republican Rick Scott.

He said he believed police officers should be able to defuse most situations without force.

“At the time that a law enforcement official has to go to a weapon, to a gun, to a baton, to a Taser, then they have already had to go too far,” Gillum said. “By their very presence, by the very trust that they inspire in community and society, they are supposed to be able to bring most situations to heel.”

He said he is in favor of law enforcement “repairing the breach” and building an improved community relationship.

The Tallahassee mayor has been at the center of a controversy in recent weeks.

It turns out that while the city of Tallahassee was investigating corruption in 2016, Gillum accepted tickets to see Hamilton from an undercover agent from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to the Washington Free Beacon.

FBI Special Agent Mike Miller, posing as a developer, bought the tickets and gifted them to Gillum through a lobbyist.

“Mike Miller and the crew have tickets for us for Hamilton tonight at 8 p.m.” former lobbyist Adam Corey texted to Gillum on Aug. 10, 2016.

“Awesome news about Hamilton,” Gillum responded, according to the text records, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Gillum told those who asked that his brother had given him the tickets, the Washington Free Beacon reported.