Andrew Gillum opens up about ‘challenging season’ in surprise Native Land Podcast appearance

Months after his arrest, Andrew Gillum says he’s taking it one step at a time while working to be the best version of himself.

After a summer of headlines about reported arrests and drug tests, former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has publicly shared his progress with a surprise appearance on the “Native Land” podcast. Rejoining his fellow co-hosts Angela Rye and Bakari Sellers, Gillum broke the ice, jokingly referring to himself as “the Bobby Brown” of the show before giving an update. 

“It’s been a challenging season,” Gillum said, thanking his family, friends and listeners of the show for their support. “I’ll just say it has been a healing few months as well as a chaotic couple of months. But I’m faithful. I’m trying to remain faithful [and] disciplined. My love for my family and for my friends is at an all-time high. But I got to tell you, a love for myself is also at an all-time high.”

“I’m just taking it one day at a time to be the best version of myself as I can be. But more on that to come,” he added. 

His brief return to the podcast follows his reported completion of a 30-day rehabilitation program, according to TMZ. In July, the former gubernatorial candidate was arrested in Alabama after police were called to a disturbance outside of a convenience store, where they allege he was driving erratically. Found with three grams of methamphetamine, pre-rolled marijuana joints and other drug-related items, Gillum was booked on charges of felony possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of marijuana for personal use, and possession of drug paraphernalia—all of which he pleaded guilty to. 

As previously reported by theGrio, after voluntarily enrolling in a drug testing program, Gillum later tested negative for drugs. Given the clean results, Gillum’s lawyer requested a hearing at which a judge would decide whether Gillum needed to join a court-appointed treatment program. 

Through the years Gillum has been open about his struggles with addiction. After losing Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race to Ron DeSantis by a narrow margin, the Democratic candidate stepped out of the spotlight to focus on treating his addiction. In 2020, Gillum shared a candid video announcing his plans to go to rehab and therapy after a very public controversy. 

“Having grown up in a household where my father battled addiction to alcohol, and later died from complications from that deadly addiction, I know well the toll that alcohol can take on not only the individual but also on the family,” he said at the time. “I knew that if I didn’t want to recycle many of those same issues for my children that I had to do something about it and I had to do it now.”

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He continued: “I didn’t want to talk emotionally or really deeply about what had happened in the race for governor because it was a constant reminder of failure, and my own personal failures. It was a reminder that I had let so many people down. All the things that I wanted to suppress and numb and forget about, that depression around what I was experiencing there, became far too much for me to keep down.”

Understanding his past struggles, Gillum’s friends publicly offered their support to the “Native Land” podcast co-host following the news of his arrest. 

“Andrew Gillum is my brother and friend. He is one of the greatest public servants I’ve ever seen. He is one in a million. No headline. No mugshot. No shady comment. Nothing can diminish my view of my brother,” Rye wrote on Facebook at the time. “Keep him in your prayers. Keep his family in your prayers. Find grace and let it abound the way you’d need it to cover you.”

“Addiction is a wound, not an identity. A battle, not a verdict,” New Birth Tabernacle of Praise pastor Rudy Ferguson, Sr., who presides over the Tallahassee church, wrote on Facebook, citing the strongly held belief that one who battles and deals with addiction can continue to add to society. “God is still in the healing business. Restoration is our assignment. Compassion is our calling. Prayer is our posture.”