Far-right Republican accused of stiffing student debate champion of $8,000

Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback calls failure to pay Briana Whatley money owed ‘an oversight’ A far-right Republican candidate in Florida’s governor’s race has been accused of stiffing a high school debate champion over the better part of $11,000 in scholarship money she won from a company he founded. Student Briana Whatley landed the awards as regional and national champion of Incubate Debate, a league-style competition set up by the candidate, James Fishback, to encourage young people to engage in political discourse. A recording posted to Substack by Fishback in May 2024 shows Whatley, now a second-year history student at Florida State University, accepting a $10,000 check for besting seven other finalists in the 2024 Incubate Debate national championship, adding to two $500 area awards she previously won. According to Florida Politics, Whatley is suing Fishback for not delivering $8,000 of the money that a letter from the company promised would be paid to her in full on the day she graduated high school in May last year. The filing names Incubate Foundation Inc, the parent of Incubate Debate, and Fishback, 31, who is challenging front-running US congressman Byron