Dems Use ‘Race’ As ‘Political Crutch’ Because ‘They Are Not Moral,’ Byron Donalds Says

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL — Jim Crow is dead, Black Republican lawmakers told the Daily Signal, arguing that Democrats continue to invoke race as a “political crutch,” and that voters are increasingly rejecting a party they view as neither “moral” nor “logical.”

“What was happening under the Democratic-controlled South is that they took the ability away for Black people to cast a ballot. That’s not the case today,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla told the Daily Signal. “So Democrats are just complaining. We’re not going to sit here and act as if the same discrimination and segregation the Democratic Party created in the South exist today. They do not.”

Donalds continued, saying that Democrats, who have repeatedly called voter ID requirements as Jim Crow 2.0, “always use race,” calling it “their political crutch.”

“Their ideas aren’t logical. Their ideas aren’t moral,” Donalds told the Daily Signal. “So what they try to do is use the emotions tied to the history of our country and weaponize those emotions for political gain. It’s sick.”

Donalds said that strategy helps explain why voters continue to leave the Democratic Party.

“I think that’s why you’re seeing more and more people walk away from the Democratic Party,” he said. “How many years are we going to hear the same tired line over and over again?”

“But when it comes to actually getting something done that makes the lives of the American people better, they don’t do it,” Donalds continued. “They actually oppose it. The SAVE America Act is a golden example. They oppose it, or they support truly radical positions and ideas that the American people just don’t support.”

Previously, Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told the Daily Signal that Democrat politicians—including Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is under House Oversight Committee investigation for potential fraud—use accusations of racism to deflect accountability.

“We don’t despise her because she’s a Black female. That has nothing to do with it,” Fine said. “Frankly, if I were a Black woman, I’d be offended that she tries to use me to get out of her crimes.”

Donalds said he agreed with Fine’s assessment.

The debate resurfaced during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government hearing Wednesday, when Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, pushed back on claims from Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., that “Jim Crow is alive and well” following changes to Tennessee’s congressional map.

“I’ve been Black my whole life—I’ve been Black for 44 years—and I have never experienced Jim Crow,” Hunt told the Daily Signal after the hearing.

During the committee session, Hunt was even more direct.

“As someone who is a direct descendant of a slave, as someone whose great-great-grandfather was born on a plantation, I can assure you slavery is over,” Hunt said. “Jim Crow is dead.”

“When I go anywhere, I don’t see any ‘Black only’ signs,” he added. “I don’t. I promise you.”

“The great-great-grandson stands before you today as a proud conservative Republican from Texas, as a believer and follower in Christ, and as a believer in what this country can be—if we allow equality,” Hunt concluded.

Cohen did not respond to Hunt’s remarks and left the hearing room before its conclusion.

Donalds said Hunt’s comments were “100% correct.”

“Black people in this country today are not being prevented from voting,” the Florida gubernatorial candidate said. “They are not being disenfranchised.”

“They have every ability to vote. They have every ability to choose their representatives,” he added. “But just because you get a chance to vote doesn’t mean your side—or your candidate—is going to win.”