5 January 29 - February 4, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | INDECENT PROPOSALS James Fishback took his Florida vision to a right-wing podcast. It got weird fast. BY NATASHA YEE F lorida has no shortage of politicians with contro- versial views. Our sur- geon general is pushing to eliminate state-mandated vac- cines. Our governor gave motor- ists permission to run over protestors ahead of a “No Kings” demonstration. But among the politicos behind the never-ending headlines, one prospective gover- nor stands out: James Fishback. You may remember Fishback as the guy who proposed a 50 percent “sin tax” on On- lyFans creators. While he’s not doing the greatest in the polls (the most recent Mason- Dixon survey found that just three percent of registered Republicans would vote for him if the election were held today, while 37 per- cent said they’d go for President Donald Trump-endorsed frontrunner U.S. Rep. By- ron Donalds), he’s creating quite the chatter on the interwebs. Last week, Fishback, CEO of investment firm Azoria Capital, appeared on an online podcast with right-wing influencers Clavicu- lar and Sneako to discuss policy and his hopes for the Sunshine State’s future. We rounded up some of his most electrifying ideas below. Fishback did not respond to New Times’ requests for comment via email or Instagram. The “Hoe Tax” Sin tax, hoe tax — just semantics, we guess. Hosts Clavicular and Sneako open by asking Fishback about his proposed 50 percent tax on OnlyFans creators. Fishback says the goal is simple: to stop them from doing it by mak- ing the platform financially unattractive. “What thot stands for is these hoes owe taxes, okay?” Fishback quips. (Thot is a slang term for a woman considered to be promis- cuous.) He then says that Sophie Rain, the Only- Fans creator who roasted Fishback for his comments about the site in the first place, owes the state $42 million, suggests that women do something “productive,” like work at a clinic, or become a nurse, teacher, or stay- at-home mom, and mentions China and Saudi Arabia as beacons of female morality. “Say what you want about Saudi Arabia,” Fishback says. “There are no women hoeing out on the internet in Saudi Arabia.” It has been less than eight years since Saudi Ara- bia ended its ban on women drivers, and women still need a guardian’s consent to get married or di- vorced, so maybe not the best example? Fishback bemoans the poor men who are victimized by OnlyFans creators. At no point during the discussion does he mention the men who create content on the adult enter- tainment site or where their fates should lie. When asked later in the conversation whether the men who pay for OnlyFans con- tent should be held accountable for their end of the bargain, Fishback hesitates. “I don’t know that consuming the content is just the same as creating the content,” he says. “I think it’s all sinful; it’s all bad.” In all of Fishback’s apparent concern for young women, he forgets to point out that the Broward County School District cut ties with him in 2022 over sexual misconduct allega- tions involving a then-17-year-old girl, ac- cording to NBC. Fishback was 27 at the time. Affordability In court, Fishback said he couldn’t pay a $229,000 judgment to a former hedge fund employer (though he wore a “borrowed” Cartier watch to the proceeding), so perhaps it makes sense that he’s offering ideas to make Florida more affordable. His proposals in- clude nixing tolls for Florida residents while keeping them for tourists, penalizing employ- ers for hiring foreign workers under H-1B vi- sas, and prohibiting foreign nationals and asset managers like Blackstone from buying single-family homes. When his gracious hosts ask Fishback the difference between him and New York Gov. Zohran Mamdani, Fishback responds, “Well, I use a fork to eat a Chipotle bowl; he doesn’t.” But seriously, Fishback has a totally differ- ent approach to affordability from Mamdani, he says, one that doesn’t include government involvement. Fishback plans to “tackle af- fordability from both ends” by lowering prices and raising wages, partly by deporting undocumented immigrants. “If you took the random guy in Downtown Miami and Brickell and said, ‘Hey, we’re go- ing to pay you $30 to pick strawberries,’ they would be picking strawberries in Homestead right now,” Fishback says, rather than paying someone $4 to pick strawberries. How the proposal would lower the price of said straw- berries at the grocery store was unclear. Abortion Fishback quotes a Bible passage when asked why he doesn’t support abortion. “I believe that life begins at conception, as a Catholic, as a Christian,” Fishback says. “And so my view on abortion is that women who face an unexpected pregnancy, men need to take responsibility, and women need to be met with compassion and patience and resources.” He argues that women are exploited by the abortion industry, calling Planned Parent- hood’s work “murder,” and says that being pro-life should include policies like paid ma- ternity leave. Higher Education The gubernatorial candidate has a plan to pri- oritize Florida college students: Raise annual tuition for Chinese students to $1 million. “I don’t want them here; we don’t want them here,” he says. “How do you take some- one who’s literally been in the state for 17 years, did everything right, got good grades, Black, white, doesn’t matter, and say ‘You know what, that spot at your dream school in Gainesville or in Tallahassee, that spot was just given to a Chinese foreign student.” [email protected] Gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has a lot to say. Screenshot via Shneako / YouTube | METRO | WHILE HE’S NOT DOING THE GREATEST IN THE POLLS, HE’S CREATING QUITE THE CHATTER ON THE INTERWEBS. The Stories Your Friends Are Sharing FOLLOW US
