U.S. House Rep. Byron Donalds says that Black people want Donald Trump back in office.
In an appearance on Fox News, anchor Maria Bartiromo asked the Florida Republican how he would assess the support by African-Americans for Trump.
“Oh, it’s growing, I can tell you that right now,” Donalds said. “Because, at the end of the day, our economy is struggling. That’s hurting every segment of America, including Black America. More and more Black Americans say we gotta have Trump back.”
Social media users hit back hard at Donalds’ comments.
“Byron doesn’t speak for black folks. He’s selling a narrative that is void of facts. I’m a black man; I wouldn’t vote for #DefendantTrump even if I were required to,” another X user wrote. “There is no lie Byron Donalds is unwilling to tell if it garners favor with the racist MAGA faithful,” another person commented.
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Is Donalds right, though? Are more Black people siding with Trump for the 2024 presidential election? We checked the poll numbers.
Trump insisted that when his mug shot was released after he turned himself into Fulton County authorities in August for the criminal election interference indictment in Georgia, his support shot through the roof, especially among members of the Black community.
“The Black community is so different for me in the last – since that mug shot was taken, I don’t know if you’ve seen the polls; my polls with the Black community have gone up four and five times,” Trump told conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt.
He might just be confusing support with mockery. While Trump trended on social media sites for some days after the photo’s release, there’s nothing to suggest that the mug shot’s trending status directly correlated with more support for his presidential campaign.
Some polls show a slight uptick in Trump’s favorability among Black voters, but those results don’t at all align with the former president’s claim that support for him in the Black community has quadrupled. A Pew Research analysis revealed that Trump received 8% of the Black vote in the 2020 election.
Donalds has served as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party on some matters of race in politics to bolster the party’s favorability. And it’s no surprise that he’s also a loyal Trump ally. Along with numerous other Trump loyalists, the Florida congressman put his stamp of approval on Trump’s 2024 run for president back in April rather than endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Donalds said the former president is the “one leader” who can get the U.S. “back on track.”
Donalds was also recently asked if he would accept becoming Trump’s running mate and possibly becoming the next vice president.
“With respect to being potentially on the ticket, that’s really up to the president. I have no control over that,” Donalds said. “The only thing I will say is, I just want to do whatever I can to get our country back on track. That’s what I have always been committed to.”
Donalds has tried to boost his political standing in recent weeks. He made a play for House Speaker after Kevin McCarthy’s removal from the position, but he dropped his bid after he couldn’t garner enough party support.
