The wife of Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) spoke out after highlighting racist claims made against her husband after his recent nomination as House speaker.
Erika Donalds took to Twitter on Wednesday to address the attacks against the black GOP congressman alongside images of posts from responses she has received.
“Byron and I have been together for 23+ years, and the most racist attacks we experience are always from the left,” the congressman’s wife, who is white, said. “They can’t accept that a free thinking black man achieves success on his own merits, and they sure as heck can’t stand that he’s married to me! Cry harder, haters.”
Byron and I have been together for 23+ years, and the most racist attacks we experience are always from the left. They can’t accept that a free thinking black man achieves success on his own merits, and they sure as heck can’t stand that he’s married to me!
Cry harder, haters. pic.twitter.com/Xl4vpv3jKT— Erika Donalds (@ErikaDonalds) January 11, 2023
The Twitter posts she showed featured alleged racist remarks from the past week, including from one user who said, “He still a prop.”
Another response referred to the congressman having “a snow flake for a wife.”
Ms. Donalds provided additional examples in two more tweets.
Her husband was nominated as House speaker last week by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy after a failed fourth vote to select Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as House speaker.
“For the first time in history, there have been two black Americans placed into the nomination for speaker,” Roy said, eliciting applause from both Republicans and Democrats. The other black House member nominated was Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
"For the first time in history, there have been two black Americans placed into the nomination for Speaker."
Rep. Chip Roy's nomination of Republican Byron Donalds for speaker is met with a standing ovation. Democrat Hakeem Jeffries was also nominated. https://t.co/UMyG5yEQ7f pic.twitter.com/ALAH8Tzise
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 4, 2023
Donalds received 20 votes from GOP holdouts opposed to McCarthy becoming the speaker. McCarthy eventually prevailed in a 15th vote that extended into early Saturday morning.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) blasted House Republicans for nominating Donalds, tweeting, “@ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop.”
“Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy,” she added.
FWIW, @ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy.
His name being in the mix is not progress—it’s pathetic.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 4, 2023
The Florida congressman soon responded to Bush’s remark in a Twitter post of his own.
“@CoriBush, if you see a Black man rise, let the man rise even if you disagree with them,” he wrote. “I’d be happy to sit down and debate our policies one on one whenever you’d like. As a Black man to a Black woman, I’d never do that to you. It’s a shame you did it to me.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid also spoke against Donalds, referring to him as a Republican “diversity” pick.
Donalds appeared on Reid’s program “The Reid Out” on Tuesday, where he addressed her criticisms.
“The reality is that a lot of members actually do believe in my ability to lead. They do. Am I to be despised for my youth because I served one term? My members know I have the ability to engage other members through the conference,” he told Reid.
“Kevin McCarthy is now speaker of the House. At the same time, I was working with members on both sides of our conference to make sure that we can get the job done, and we did. That’s the only thing that matters,” he later added.
While the media would like to focus on side shows, Republicans will remain focused on getting the job done for the American people. @SpeakerMcCarthy
✅Border security
✅Sound economic policy
✅Goverment accountability
✅Energy policies to lower costs pic.twitter.com/xEgcwruLbj— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) January 11, 2023
“While the media would like to focus on side shows, Republicans will remain focused on getting the job done for the American people,” Donalds tweeted following the program.
Following McCarthy’s win as House speaker, Donalds revealed that he was being placed on the House Republican Steering Committee in exchange for supporting the California congressman. Donalds shared the appointment during an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo.