Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) said Wednesday night that the media “distorted” what he said about the Jim Crow era during a campaign event earlier this week.
Donalds appeared to suggest, while speaking at a “Congress, Brandy and Cigars” event in Philadelphia, that black families were better off during the Jim Crow era because they were “together.” He also noted that “not only were more black people conservative — black people have always had a conservative mindset — but more people voted conservative.”
These remarks circulated on Wednesday, drawing criticism from others in the black community — including his colleagues.
Asked Wednesday night by CNN’s Abby Phillip if he regretted using that period as a reference, he argued that his words were taken out of context.
“No one has ever done nostalgia,” Donalds responded on Wednesday night, in an interview highlighted by Mediaite. “That was never the point. It wasn’t even about that. So where am I going to get my backup now, I didn’t say that. I didn’t even hint at that.”
Phillip followed up, asking him to clarify his rhetoric. The lawmaker, one of former President Trump’s leading vice presidential candidates, pushed back, arguing he did not insinuate what was reported.
“What you are facing now is a political environment where anything I might say or any major surrogate might say will be distorted through the lens of race,” Donalds said. “That was never the point.”
Phillip responded, “but when you talk about that time period, you’re suggesting that because the Black family was together, they were better off than they are now.”
Donalds said he “never” suggested this, arguing that he believes what he says.
“Let’s agree on one thing: I’m, you know, obviously one of the best communicators in the Republican Party,” he said Wednesday night. “I know how to put words together. I do this very often. So I’m not going to say something I don’t agree with.”
“What America is seeing right now, especially black America, is the gaslighting that unfortunately happens in politics, where you take my comments and want to insert your own political point of view into what I say,” the Florida Republican added. “What I said is very clear.”
Donalds’ comments at the Philadelphia event went viral and drew scrutiny from the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.).
CBC asked Donalds to apologize to black Americans for his comments.
“This is a pattern of embracing racist ideologies that we see repeatedly within the MAGA Republican Party,” CBC said in a statement, referring to the movement of pro-Trump conservatives. “Representative. Donalds is playing his role as a spokesperson who will say out loud the silent parts that many won’t say.
Jeffries also criticized Donalds on the House floor Wednesday for his comments.
“How dare you make such an ignorant remark,” the Democratic leader said Wednesday. “You better check yourself before you destroy yourself.”
The Black Conservative Federation, a group of which Donalds is a part, responded to Jeffries, arguing that his criticism of the Florida Republican was “tasteless, insulting and, frankly, inappropriate” for a lower house leader.
“For generations, the Democratic Party has over-promised and under-delivered on its promises to Black America,” Diante Johnson, the federation’s president, said in a statement. “Byron is right that Black families were unified before they were torn apart and destroyed by Biden’s crime bill and countless failed leftist policies, and no amount of deception will change that reality.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
