U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Southwest Florida Republican who has been mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate, said Sunday he was not offended by recent comments made by former President Donald Trump that suggested Black people like him because he has been criminally charged.
Donalds, who appeared on NBC News' Meet the Press, contended that Black voters are interested in supporting him for multiple reasons, including Trump's handling of the economy, but he said that Trump's legal woes are a factor as well.
"This is something similar that Black people have had to deal with the justice system themselves," Donalds said. "Their look of it is real simple, well dang if the government is going after him with foolishness he can't be that bad, especially considering the fact that Joe Biden is terrible at his job."
Donalds has been a strong supporter of Trump and endorsed him shortly before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially jumped into the race.
While attending an event for Black conservatives in South Carolina Trump said that he was appealing to Black voters because he had been "discriminated against due to his four criminal indictments, including charges that allege he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"And a lot of people said 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 told the crowd. "It's been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there's something there."
Trump also said that Black people "embraced" his mug shot that was taken and released after he was charged in Georgia.
Former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Biden reelection campaign, ripped into Trump's comments on Saturday.
"Donald Trump claiming that Black Americans will support him because of his criminal charges is insulting," Richmond said. "It's moronic. And it's just plain racist. He thinks Black voters are so uninformed that we won't see through his shameless pandering."
Meet the Press host Kristen Welker shared Richmond's comment with Donalds who brushed them off as "racial politics." He then repeated reasons that Trump has appeal for Black voters, including that he has been prosecuted under a "two-tiered system of justice."
"What Americans don't want to see, especially Black Americans and anybody else, they don't want to see a politicized justice department," Donalds said.
Welker then asked if Donalds was offended by the comments. He said,"No, I wasn't because I understood what the president was talking about."
No comments:
Post a Comment