That precludes it being Southern in any way.
The vast majority of real Southerners are friendly, generous, and pleasant ot be around—even when you disagree with them.
This doesn’t include, of course, mega-Trumpers, who have mental impediments to decent behavior.
Yes, you cannot win a battle of going low with Trump. He has no limitations of taste, tact, class, fairness or truthfulness. You just end up losing a bit of your own soul.
Shep is the best of an admittedly bad lot and I wouldn’t blame him too much here. Any reporter would ask that question, because asking provocative, “tough” questions is a big part of the job. The news is that DeSantis used a racist term, so you naturally ask if that’s how Gillum sees it. Gillum’s wisdom in sidestepping it doesn’t make the question illegitimate IMHO.