In a packed civic center in the rural panhandle of Florida, James Fishback, a Republican candidate for governor, made his case to a standing-room-only audience for a return to an “old Florida” and adherence to a hardline application of President Donald Trump’s promise to put America first. His platform includes placing a “sin tax” on pornography, fighting foreign influence, and banning AI data centers and their Big Tech backers like Palantir. He also advocates for legislating Christian morality.
His ambitious goals and unconventional rhetoric have piqued the interest of Generation Z, the nation, and especially the internet.
“When I say America first, I mean to put American citizens first — not market capitalization, not stock market returns, sure as heck not GDP line-go-up Republicanism, but an America first movement that actually speaks to individual prosperity, not of LLCs, but of American citizens,” Fishback told The New American in an exclusive interview.
Fishback, a 31-year-old, fourth-generation Floridian with a background in investment management, argues that most elected Republicans view Trump’s Make America Great Again movement as a collective cause, emphasizing the success of the economy and the nation on the global stage. But Fishback contends that MAGA should work for the individual — specifically the Heritage American — who has roots in the state of Florida and the nation at large.
Affordability, nationalism, and Christian values are at the heart of his pitch.
Purging Porn: Placing a “Sin Tax” on Pornography
Fishback’s campaign is surrounded by a flurry of outside-the-box policy proposals that have set the internet ablaze. In January, he announced that if elected, he would levy a 50 percent “sin tax” on the income of all pornographers in the state. The proposal made national headlines when Miami-based OnlyFans star Sophie Rain, who has made over $100 million on the platform since 2023 selling pornography, attacked the proposal, writing on X: “Targeting a group of individuals using their job to survive when there are multibillion dollar corrupt businesses that don’t pay any taxes is … insane.”
Fishback doubled down, posting, “Pay up *or* quit OnlyFans. As Florida Governor, I will not allow a generation of smart and capable young women to sell their bodies online.”
When asked by The New American about the pushback and characterization of legislating Christian morality, Fishback dug deeper: “It is legislating morality, and that’s what we’re supposed to do. If we’re not legislating morality, then we might as well get rid of any law that makes it illegal to murder someone or to steal, because those are moral principles.” The foundation of morality, he continued, is found in the Christian religion.
Cracking down on pornography in the Sunshine State would also protect girls and women from an industry that seeks to enslave them, he argues. “If a woman is taking nude photos at 19, 20, 21 years old, she has now rendered herself unemployable for the rest of her life. … I think for a single mom who’s 23 years old, who is already reluctant to take these photos to help cover her rent or her groceries, a 50-percent sin tax will be the nail in the coffin to never, ever, ever jump on the boat of moral degeneracy.”
Last week, Fishback and Rain went toe-to-toe in a lively debate on Piers Morgan Uncensored, where Fishback made his case directly to Rain to tax 50 percent of her income. Morgan defended the porn industry and attacked Fishback for restricting women’s “empowerment.”
Immigration and Affordability
On affordability and the inflation crisis, Fishback contends the issue is directly tied to illegal immigration — and even too much legal immigration. He told The New American that his approach to tackle affordability is twofold: Cut taxes so citizens have more cash and remove foreigners from the economic equation.
To lower costs for families, eliminating property taxes is a must, he added. That must be accompanied by lowering the cost of insurance, eradicating tolls for Floridians, and creating an economy that raises wages.
But how do you raise wages? “Well, you have to get rid of people in the economy — cheap foreign labor that is unqualified, that is being exploited by billionaires at large corporations who are not hiring Indians or Chinese because they’re smarter than graduates from UWF [University of West Florida] or from USF [University of South Florida], but no, because they are cheap. They are exploitable. They are malleable. That is why they always turn to foreign labor.”
If legal immigration means a lifelong Floridian loses work, that is unacceptable, he argued. “You have to remove cheap foreign labor.”
Nonnegotiable: Federalism, Nullification, and the 10th Amendment
State action is key to achieving Fishback’s vision for Florida and America at large, and the 10th Amendment to the Constitution — which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” — is his justification.
“I know The John Birch Society is a big fan of the 10th Amendment,” he observed. “And I am as well.” While it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to punish companies for hiring foreign workers, the state of Florida could, he argues. And under a Fishback government, it would.
“I will not hesitate to implement a fine on any large company that is firing qualified Americans here in Florida and then hiring cheap foreign labor from elsewhere,” he stressed. “We have to disincentivize bad behavior.”
And if the national government acts against the interests of Floridians, Fishback is willing to use a power reserved by the states but seldom exercised: nullification.
The Founding Fathers routinely explained that state nullification is the remedy to federal overreach. In fact, President Thomas Jefferson articulated in the 1798 Kentucky Resolutions that “the several states who formed [the Constitution], being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction; and that a nullification, by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under color of that instrument, is the rightful remedy.”
Indeed, President James Madison echoed that in the Virginia Resolutions, stating unequivocally that “the states who are parties [to the Constitution] have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of … evil.”
States can and should nullify unconstitutional and harmful acts imposed upon them by the federal government. Fishback affirmed that the states made the national government, not the other way around.
“I would never take that [nullification] off the table for egregious violations from the federal government,” he concluded.
“Unapologetic” Christian Nationalist
Being a self-described Christian nationalist is a pillar of Fishback’s personal and political identity. Taking the title literally, Fishback articulated that he is a Christian — believing “Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life” — and that he is an ardent anti-globalist. Therefore, he embraces the title of Christian nationalist.
Digging deeper, he explained that the descriptor asserts “a vision that is not opposed [to] but actually stands for something.” He added that, “far too often, you ask a Republican what they believe, or you ask them what they stand for, and they’ll tell you what they’re against.” While being against harmful policies is good, according to Fishback, what a person stands for is more significant. For him, it’s Christian nationalism.
The Iran War and Foreign Policy
On February 28, Fishback went viral once again, this time for speaking out in opposition to President Trump’s unconstitutional war in Iran. (According to Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution, only Congress can make and declare war.) While calling the Iranian regime “brutal” and “illegitimate,” Fishback nonetheless rebuked the president for breaking his campaign promise of no new wars.
“No intel has been offered [that Iran is an imminent threat], to the point where No. 2 at the DNI, Joe Kent, resigned over a lack of intel. We haven’t had this kind of division [or] dissent over a war really in American history,” he told The New American.
If elected governor, Fishback said, he would never allow Florida’s 12,000 National Guardsmen to deploy to a foreign country without explicit authorization from Congress. He argues that the Iranian quagmire does not make American citizens better off and does not advance an America First policy. And with respect to soaring fuel prices and the ever-growing national debt of $39 trillion, it is a losing endeavor, he explained.
Gen Z Revolution
Perhaps the most significant feature of Fishback’s campaign is the following he has built on the campaign trail among Generation Z (born 1997 to 2012).
According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, only 27 percent of 18-29-year-olds voted in the 2022 midterm elections, illustrating that the youth demographic is significantly harder to engage compared to baby boomers (born 1946 to 1964) and Generation X (born 1965 to 1980).
Tapping into that hard-to-reach demographic of Gen Z voters, Fishback consistently draws crowds of hundreds of 18-29-year-olds at rallies across the state, often only giving one to two days’ notice of when and where an event will take place. Just last week, well over 100 youths showed up at a Taco Bell in Orlando to show their support.
“There’s without a doubt nobody else that has been able to actually rally Gen Z at the rate in which James Fishback has been able to do it,” Brayden Morrison, a Fishback supporter, told The New American. When asked what his number one issue is as a Gen Z voter, Morrison answered that eliminating foreign money in politics and stopping mass AI surveillance through companies like Palantir and Flock Safety are top priorities.
Riley Peacock, a three-time Gen Z Trump voter from DeFuniak Springs, Florida, said he is against the war in Iran and is attracted to Fishback’s determination to stay out of foreign wars. “Everything here should be taken care of first,” he commented. “The other parts of the world, the other countries, they can take care of their stuff first.”
Justin Shelton, a resident of Freeport, Florida, is supporting the campaign because he wants his peers to be able to get married, have kids, and own a home — blessings he is concerned will be unachievable with the current economy. He believes Fishback can help make it happen. “I love that he [Fishback] is very Christ-centric,” he added. “That’s huge for me.”
Trump-backed Opponent and Allegations
Fishback’s road to the governor’s mansion will be anything but easy. President Trump has thrown the weight of his endorsement behind Congressman Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who is polling consistently at 35-40 percent according to many analysts. Donalds has called Fishback’s campaign “performative slop,” even posting on X that “James = Con Man.”
Fishback has also garnered criticism for refusing to pay lawyers in a lawsuit against his former employer, Greenlight Capital, who sued him for allegedly failing to repay two promissory notes worth $300,000. Fishback claims his lawyers failed to meet their obligations, leading to his refusal of payment.
He has also come under scrutiny for allegedly having a relationship with a 17-year-old when he was approximately 27 years old. Fishback states the woman, Keinah Fort, was over 18 years old during their relationship. Fort filed a protection-order request, which was dismissed by Tallahassee Judge Joshua Hawkes, who denied the petition for lack of evidence. “There was no evidence entered into the record to support that allegation, and I was fully exonerated of any wrongdoing in this case,” Fishback said in a statement after the ruling.
Fishback and Donalds are set to debate on July 21 in Tampa, in preparation for the August 18 Republican primary.
