Gov. Ron DeSantis looks to cruise to re-election in Florida as the probable Republican red wave approaches. Still, there are two candidates vying to replace him on the Democrat side. One is infamous political chameleon Charlie Crist, once a “Republican” himself, and the other is current AG Commissioner Nikki Fried.

And while Crist’s momentum-less campaign appears to be poised to win him the position of sacrificial lamb, current runner-up Fried continues to have a larger social media presence — and, as you’ll see, it’s always good for a laugh.

On Friday evening, something really odd happened. Fried took to Twitter to let her 282K followers know that…she does not have a sex tape?

It’s absurd that I have to dignify this, but there is no sex tape. Sorry to disappoint. Also sorry basically every successful woman has to deal with these types of rumors.

— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) April 15, 2022

You might be asking yourself who accused Nikki Fried of having a sex tape. Did some right-leaning outlet start the rumor based on innuendo and anonymous sources? Did some major social media account make the claim, causing it to go viral? Did one of her political opponents assert such?

The answer to all those questions appears to be no. In fact, I can’t find any example of anyone accusing Fried of having a sex tape. I have seen someone mention that a small, random account made a joke about it in her replies, but I can’t confirm that myself, which tells you how obscure the joke was–if it was actually made. Regardless, there was no real accusation that Fried had a naughty video, and it appears that she was the first person to actually start talking about it.

To recap, Fried took to Twitter to denounce a rumor that she had a sex tape…that she started. I’ve got to admit, this is a new one for me as a political observer, and truly, it’s taking attention-seeking to absurd levels. I guess being down double-digits against her primary opponent left her all out of other ideas.

Given the hilarity of this entire situation, the mockery flowed afterward.

BREAKING: Florida gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried claims person blackmailing her over sex tape said she'd better pay up because "this is MAGA country."

— Jeff Charles (@JeffOnTheRight) April 16, 2022

No one:
Absolutely no one:
Nikki: I don't have a sex tape

— Penguin – behind enemy lines (@penguin74us) April 16, 2022

So what was Fried’s plan here? I’m speculating, but I think she was trying to connect it to DeSantis and claim that he started the rumor as a gross sexist. Laughably, though, she made the mistake of forgetting to let the rumor build momentum before denouncing it–so in the end, it just didn’t work.

To state the obvious, if DeSantis’ opposition in November is this woman or Charlie Crist, he’s absolutely golden.