Rep. Byron Donalds Defends Donald Trump’s Comments on Vice President Kamala Harris’ Race
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a prominent ally of Donald Trump, dismissed the recent controversy over the former president’s comments on Vice President Kamala Harris’ race.
Trump falsely claimed at the National Association of Black Journalists conference last week that Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, only recently began to identify as Black.
“She is biracial. She has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, she’s always identified as both. Why are you questioning that?” “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Donalds on Sunday.
“Well, George, first of all, this is something that’s actually a conversation throughout social media right now. There were a lot of people who are trying to figure this out. But again, that’s a side issue, not the main issue,” Donalds said, pivoting to Harris’ record in President Joe Biden’s administration.
Donalds also defended Trump for saying he’d pardon rioters who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
The former president raised eyebrows when he said at last week’s conference that he’d pardon those who assaulted police officers if they were found “innocent” — prompting ABC News’ Rachel Scott to point out that many had, in fact, been convicted.
“Of course, if somebody was beating up a police officer at Jan. 6, he’s [Trump] not going to do that. But if you had people who were just walking through the Capitol, which did occur on January 6, because the security protocols had changed because of that riot at the Capitol, then what he would do is not allow them to be held in jail with these massively increased charges,” Donalds said.
“My question is on those rioters who assaulted officers, would you pardon those people,” Stephanopoulos responded. “They are not innocent. They are convicted. He said he would pardon them.”
“George, what I’m telling you is he’s gonna go back and look at these cases because it is without a doubt, and look, Jan. 6 is a very painful memory in our country. But it is without a doubt that the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia was super-charging these people because of political viewpoints,” Donalds said.
Donalds claimed that Trump has been treated differently than Biden or other Democrats by the Department of Justice, leading Stephanopoulos to point out that Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was also charged by the DOJ.
