Miami Beach legislator faces scrutiny over votes — and allegation that he slapped aide
During his bid to flip a state House seat red in a historically left-leaning part of South Florida, Republican Fabian Basabe cast himself as a moderate candidate who was willing to cross party lines.
“I am pro choice, pro gay marriage and pro responsible gun legislation,” Basabe, a socialite-turned-politician who was once referred to as the “male version” of Paris Hilton, wrote in a comment on Facebook.
But since his defeat of Jordan Leonard by just over 200 votes to win House District 106 in November — buoyed by support from some prominent Democrats in Miami Beach and nearby coastal cities — Basabe has voted consistently with Republicans on controversial culture-war bills, leading some of his constituents to say they were duped.
Meanwhile, Basabe is embroiled in a scandal involving an aide who accused Basabe of slapping him in the face at a private event earlier this year.
On Thursday night, CBS News Miami reported that Nicolas Frevola, a 25-year-old aide to Basabe, claimed Basabe slapped him and told him to stand in a corner during a Jan. 3 event hosted by a Tallahassee lobbying firm.
Frevola said Basabe “had been drinking and was mistaken about something that led him to slap me in the face in front of other people in the room. He then told me to stand in the corner. I was so embarrassed that I did as he asked.”
Basabe said in an interview with CBS that he doesn’t “remember anything like that.”
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said he has hired an outside attorney to investigate the allegation. Basabe said he was unaware of the investigation.
In response to the Miami Herald’s request for comment on the matter Friday morning, Basabe did not address the aide’s claim.
“What I’d like to discuss instead is the devaluation of the dollar and the fact that 40 countries are now trading on different currencies,” he said in a text message. “I’d also like to talk about the sargassum (so much you can see it from space) currently in international waters heading our way that will impact Florida greatly on so many levels.”
Controversial votes
Late last month, Basabe supported an expansion of the education bill derided by critics as “don’t say gay,” which limits discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools through eighth grade and says school staffers and students can’t be required to use people’s preferred pronouns.
He railed against LGBTQ advocacy groups for spreading “misinformation” about the bill, saying the text “does not in any way prohibit discussion on campus.”
Basabe also voted for a bill that lets people carry concealed guns without a permit or training, emphasizing aspects of it that aim to enhance school safety.
“The fact that it’s being marketed as permitless carry is ridiculous,” he said.
On Wednesday, Basabe spoke during a committee hearing in favor of a bill that would bar children from attending drag shows with “lewd” performances, arguing it is “protecting the drag industry” from performers who are “taking things too far and ruining it for the rest of us.” Democrats have said the bill is intentionally vague and aimed at creating a chilling effect on events like drag shows and pride parades.
And on Thursday, when it came time to vote on a bill that would, with limited exceptions, only allow abortions during the first six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they’re pregnant — Basabe was not among the seven Republicans who opposed it. Instead, he abstained from the vote.
Basabe said in a statement that Democrats had refused to engage with a proposal he made to move the cutoff from 15 weeks to 12 weeks. Basabe said he believed Republicans would have supported the change, but that Democrats were unwilling to compromise.
Republicans, Basabe said, were already compromising by setting a six-week cutoff instead of pursuing their desire for a total abortion ban.
“In arriving at this result, believe it or not, the Republican Party was the only party that has actually fought for choice,” Basabe said. “My vote is on hold until this works respectfully for all Floridians.”
Basabe on Thursday voted against dozens of proposed amendments to the bill proffered by Democrats.
“Everything he said to people obviously was a complete lie,” said Amanda Knapp, vice president of the Miami Beach Democrats. “People are appalled.”
A pledge to support choice
Basabe, who is the son of a wealthy Ecuadorian businessman and earned a reputation as a New York party boy while appearing on reality TV shows in the mid-2000s, touted pro-choice beliefs during his campaign.
In a social media post days before the election, he boasted of support from Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, a Democrat, quoting her as saying he would “vote to uphold a woman’s right to govern her body.”
In a text message to Basabe at the time, Rosen Gonzalez said her open support of him “might kill me politically.”
After Basabe was elected, Rosen Gonzalez wrote in an email to residents that Basabe “promised me he would always vote for a woman’s right to choose, and I hope he remembers that promise!”
Asked Thursday about Basabe’s decision not to vote on the abortion bill, Rosen Gonzalez said Basabe was in a “difficult place” in the super-majority Republican Legislature.
“I think Fabian knows what he promised the electorate, but he is also aware that Tallahassee is pretty much a one-party Legislature these days and he has to follow Republican Party lines, no matter how absurd the legislation becomes,” she said in a text message.
After this story was published Friday morning, Rosen Gonzalez said she wanted to add that she is “disappointed in Fabian.”
Protest is planned
Not everyone has been so understanding.
Equality Florida, an LGTBQ advocacy group, earlier this week called for a protest Friday outside Basabe’s district office in North Bay Village — a rare occurrence for a state legislator just a few months into his two-year term.
Basabe has “repeatedly voted against the interests of our community in lockstep with Governor [Ron] DeSantis’ extreme anti-LGBTQ agenda,” reads an event description, “despite having campaigned on PROTECTING LGBTQ rights and representing Miami Beach, one of the largest LGBTQ communities in Florida.”
The event page features a photograph of Basabe next to the word “BETRAYED.”
Members of the Miami Beach Democrats, who endorsed Basabe’s opponent in the election, said they plan to participate in Friday’s rally.
Knapp, the group’s vice president, said Basabe attended events with the group during his campaign and told members he would be “a total ally for our community.” But Knapp said she didn’t buy it.
“I didn’t trust him one bit,” she said.
Basabe, who used $250,000 of his own funds to campaign, made the case that having a Republican advocate in Tallahassee would help cities in the district secure money through the state’s budget process, which is subject to legislative approval and the governor’s veto.
But Basabe has been adamant that his recent votes were based solely on what he believes is right.
“I vote my conscience,” he said. “My vote is not for sale.”
A history of controversy
Basabe has been the subject of juicy headlines since his New York socialite days, when tabloids painted him as a popular, entitled child of wealth.
He has sought to clean up his image in recent years as a stay-at-home father and aspiring politician, but there have still been scandals. In 2019, a publicist told Page Six that Basabe called her the N-word and a “whore” after she didn’t let him into an Art Basel party. He denied using the language.
The following year, Basabe faced a criminal charge after he grabbed a neighbor’s phone and threw it into the bay during a dispute over COVID-related restrictions at his condo’s pool area, according to a police report. Basabe said the neighbor was trying to film his 11-year-old son.
He was later arrested by U.S. Marshals on a boat in South Carolina after he allegedly failed to address the charge in Florida. Basabe has said he wasn’t fleeing and told the Miami New Times last year that he “had no reason to believe a warrant for my arrest was issued.”
In 2021, Basabe sought to run for Miami Beach City Commission but was disqualified for failing to meet the city’s residency requirements.
Some LGBTQ advocates are now sounding the alarm about Basabe’s planned participation in Sunday’s Miami Beach Pride parade. Event organizers have defended the decision to include him, writing on Twitter that people should show up and “ask him why he voted that way and express your concern.”
Knapp said there may be protests.
“What he’s doing is against everything Miami Beach stands for,” she said.
This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 8:34 AM.
