Neo-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando over the weekend drew bipartisan condemnations from state and local officials, but Gov. Ron DeSantis remained silent until Monday afternoon when he responded to a question about the rallies with a tirade against his political enemies.

“So what I’m going to say is these people, these Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try to smear me as if I had something to with do that, we’re not playing their game,” the governor said during a press conference in Palm Beach.

He referred to the demonstrators, a group of about 20 shouting antisemitic slurs while waving Nazi flags near a UCF-area shopping plaza on Saturday and on an Interstate 4 overpass on Sunday, as “some jackasses doing this on the street” and said they’d be held accountable by law enforcement.

But he also accused Democrats who called for him to denounce the neo-Nazis — as fellow Republican office-holders including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and state House Speaker Chris Sprowls had already done — of exploiting the demonstrations for political gain, while also touting his record of support for the Jewish community and Israel.