Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a black rising star in the GOP, defended Donald Trump on Sunday over a comment the former president made about black people that a top official in President Joe Biden‘s campaign said was racist.
On NBC, “Meet The Press” moderator Kristen Welker showed Donalds a clip of Trump suggesting at a Black Conservative Federation gala in South Carolina on Friday that the indictments he faces while running a 2024 campaign make him more appealing to black people.
“I got indicted a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time. And a lot of people said that that’s 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,” Trump said.
“Congressman, 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.
WATCH: Trump said Black voters support him as he faces indictments because they have “been hurt so badly and discriminated against.”
Rep. @ByronDonalds (R-Fla.): “It’s part of it. … This is something similar that Black people have to deal with.” pic.twitter.com/K3sVLyzBPe
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) February 25, 2024
“Well, I think it’s part of it, Kristen. Look, it was a great night Friday night in Columbia, South Carolina. The president was really just enjoying himself. It was a great celebration for black conservatives across our country. But let’s be very clear, our economy is a mess. Our border is completely unsecured,” Donalds replied.
“These things are causes of major concerns for black voters like it is for every voter in our country,” he added. “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 had to deal with with the justice system themselves. And so their look of it is real simple: ‘Well, dang, if the government’s going after him with foolishness, he can’t be that bad.’ Especially considering the fact that Joe Biden is terrible at his job.”
Welker countered by saying all four indictments against Trump were brought by grand juries and insisted there is “no evidence” that the indictments were politically motivated. She then pressed Donalds to respond to Biden campaign co-chairman and former congressman Cedric Richmond, who is also black, calling the comment “just plain racist.”
“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. That’s one. Number two, like I said at the top, the number one reason why minority voters in our country want to support Donald Trump is because he did the job of president,” Donalds said.
“He did a great job as president. Our country was secure. The economy was great,” Donalds continued. “These are all things that Donald Trump talked about Friday night. He also did talk about the indictments. What Americans don’t want to see, especially black Americans and anybody else, they don’t want to see a politicized Justice Department. They don’t want to see a two-tier system of justice. They want justice to be followed. They want Lady Justice to be blind. That’s what the American people want. That’s what black voters want. That’s what everybody wants.”
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In response to a follow-up question about whether he was offended by Trump’s remarks, Donalds said, “No, I wasn’t. Because I understood what the president was talking about. And like I said now for the third time, he talked about all the reasons why minority voters want to support him.”