Rep. Byron Donalds, a freshman lawmaker representing Florida’s 19th District, says he was not surprised the CBC turned him down because he is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump. But that fact, he says, says more about liberal black lawmakers on Capitol Hill than about the Brooklyn-born Republican.
“Last time I checked I was born black,” Donalds (pictured above) told Fox News. “I've grown up black. I've made it in America as a black man. I graduated college as a black man.”
The far-left Congressional Black Caucus has at times allowed GOP lawmakers to join, such as Rep. Mia Love and Rep. Allen West, but liberal CBC members literally celebrated when the outspoken West was defeated in 2012.
Donalds, 42, served as a Florida state rep before running in the GOP-leaning 19th District after incumbent Francis Rooney did not seek re-election.
CNN invited Rep. Donalds on to discuss the CBC only to ambush him with a montage of Donald Trump clips meant to demonstrate Trump's racist history, including the former president's "both sides" comment that the media has twisted.
"That has nothing to do with this discussion," Donalds said of the clip. "This is whether the ideology of somebody who is conservative is welcome in the Congressional Black Caucus. It's really that simple."
After the interview, a spokesman for Rep. Donalds said CNN attempted to set "multiple traps" for the freshman lawmaker because "white liberals can't comprehend how black people could be Republicans, especially Trump supporters..."
In the Fox News interview, Rep. Donalds told Laura Ingraham he wants to be part of the CBC in order to bring conservative ideals to the table.
“I know that a lot of members of the CBC will not agree with me, and I'm not going to agree with them,” he said, “but it's about actually having the conversation that the Left always says they want to have.”
