Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried fulminated Friday about a proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis to revive the Florida State Guard, and used his pitch to fundraise.

In an email entitled "This is horrifying," the Democratic candidate for Governor blasted DeSantis' proposal as an attempt to "form a paramilitary force that answers directly to him and no one else."

Fried's Monday email mentioned her cable news hit Friday on MSNBC to "discuss DeSantis' latest — and most alarming —  authoritarian move."

"This is horrifying," Fried said of the proposal on The Reid Out. "He's not only forming his own army, but it's an army that's not accountable to anybody. Not to the people of our state. Not to the Constitution."

Fried went on to say Friday that "this should be alarming, not just to the people of our state, but the entire country, that the Governor who is unhinged, who is going out of his way to show that he is an authoritarian dictator here in our state, believes that he is above the law, doesn't listen to the Legislature, doesn't communicate with the Legislature … this is an individual who believes he is running for President in 2024."

Fried linked to video in her campaign email, framing it as part of her battle against the Governor's "authoritarian agenda." She urged donors to "support Nikki's fight to end DeSantis' authoritarian regime."

Even as Fried parlays the earned media into a fundraising appeal, Republicans noted that during the segment, Fried appeared to agree with the host's comparisons of DeSantis to a former leader of Communist Cuba.

An email this weekend from the Republican Governors' Association described Fried as "nodding in agreement as an MSNBC host compared Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to the murderous Cuban dictator Fidel Castro."

"Nikki Fried's agreement with an MSNBC host that Florida's democratically elected Governor reminds her of Fidel Castro is a slap in the face to the tens of thousands of victims of the Castro regime's murderous brutality," said RGA spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez.

The crux of the issue is that host Joy Reid invoked Castro's name during the segment, and Fried did not object.