Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL), one of the top surrogates to Black America for former President Donald Trump, shut down NBC’s Kristen Welker after she attempted to goad him into defending statements made by Trump that Biden aides have slammed as “just plain racist.”
The Florida Republican appeared on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program in the wake of a decisive victory by President Trump in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. During his victory speech, Trump alluded to his ongoing criminal trials as a reason why Black Americans are flocking to his candidacy at the highest rate for any Republican since the Civil Rights era.
“It sounds like Donald Trump was implying that he can win Black voters because they get indicted all the time too. Is that what he was saying?” Welker asked.
“That’s part of it, Kristen,” Donalds replied. “Our economy is a mess. Our border is completely unsecured. These things are causes of major concern for Black voters like it is for every voter in our country. But then when you layer on the fact that yes, this is political persecution from the Department of Justice and from radical DAs throughout our country, this is something similar that Black people have to deal with in the justice system themselves.”
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“Their look of it is real simple: well dang, if the government’s going after him with foolishness, he can’t be that bad.”
Challenged to rebut comments by Biden campaign chair Cedric Richmond denouncing Trump’s statement as racist, Rep. Donalds flipped the race card on him.
“What I would say is that Cedric is trying to play politics and use racial politics even now as we get into the general election… The number one reason why minority voters want to support Donald Trump is because he did the job of president, he did a great job as president, our country was secure, the economy was great,” he continued. “Black Americans… don’t want to see a politicized Justice Department. They don’t want to see a two-tiered system of justice.”
Recent polls have pegged President Trump’s support among Black Americans as high as 20%, a figure once unfathomable, which underscores the bleed of support by President Joe Biden among key demographics in the Democratic Party’s coalition. As Black voters have grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of a second Trump term, major celebrities including a number of rap artists and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith have reiterated the belief that Trump’s four criminal trials are political in nature.