Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., went to bat for Donald Trump over the weekend, jumping to the former president's defense over comments he made suggesting Black voters connect with him because of his slew of indictments. During a South Carolina summit of Black conservatives on Friday, Trump said that people around him cited his bevy of indictments as why "the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against. And they actually viewed me as— I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing."
Donalds defended the remarks in a tense back-and-forth with NBC's Kristen Welker, who asked the congressman if the former president was implying he could win over Black voters because "they get indicted all the time too."
"I think that's part of it," the Florida Republican replied, before going on to name the economy and border as other top concerns for Black voters. He then dove into a full-fledged defense of Trump's statement. “When you layer on the fact that, yes, this is political persecution from the Department of Justice and from radical DA’s throughout our country, this is something similar that Black people have to deal with, with the justice system themselves,” Donalds told Welker.
The "Meet the Press" host promptly fact-checked the Florida congressman, clarifying that all four Trump indictments were brought by grand juries. "There is no evidence that the indictments are political in nature,” she added, before referencing former congressman Cedric Richmond's, D-La., criticism that Trump's claim is "insulting," "moronic and it's just plain racist." Donalds, however, accused Richmond of "trying to play politics and use racial politics."
Asked whether Trump's comments offended him, Donalds responded that they didn't "because I understood what the president was talking about.”
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