The Democrats, seeing the support for Joe Biden among black men rapidly declining, have deployed one of their most well-worn tactics in an attempt to shore up support among that demographic.
Which, as has become all too typical, did not consist of addressing the concerns that have caused black men to jump ship to Donald Trump.
Rather, the strategy consisted of lying about what black Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida said during a recent Trump campaign event.
As reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Donalds, along with fellow GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, hosted an event at a cigar bar Tuesday.
Among many of the topics discussed during that event, Donalds discussed how, while black voters have historically had conservative values, since the 1960s they have consistently voted Democrat.
Donalds said, “You see, during Jim Crow, the black family was together. During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative — black people have always been conservative-minded — but more black people voted conservatively. And then H.E.W. [U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare], Lyndon Johnson — you go down that road, and now we are where we are.”
Would Rep. Byron Donalds be a good VP pick for Trump?
Obviously, Donalds was not saying that the Civil Rights movement was a bad thing, or that Jim Crow laws were a good thing.
Rather, he was observing how much more stable the black family was in general before the explosion of social welfare programs in the ’60s.
The Democrats, however, desperate to stanch the hemorrhaging of black men from the party, decided to take Donalds’ words and spin them to their own advantage.
As seen in this video shared to the social media platform X, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrat Minority Leader of the House, accused Donalds of saying instead that “black folks were better off during Jim Crow.”
Rep. Byron Donalds made the ignorant observation that Black people were better off under Jim Crow.
Fact check. pic.twitter.com/YAiOeaVzPD
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) June 5, 2024
In the video, Jeffries claimed that what Donalds said was an “outlandish, outrageous, and out-of-pocket observation.”
“We were not better off,” he continued, ignoring what Donalds actually said, “when a young boy named Emmett Till could be brutally murdered without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when black women could be sexually assaulted without consequence because of Jim Crow, we were not better off when people could be systematically lynched without consequence because of Jim Crow.”
After listing several more Jim Crow restrictions that Donalds never once praised, Jeffries concluded by upbraiding Donalds, saying, “how dare you make such an ignorant observation? You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.”
Donalds, however, was not going to let Jeffries’ accusations go unchallenged.
Recording a response that he shared to his X account, Donalds addressed the controversy by saying, “America, Joe Biden’s campaign is lying to you once again and they’re gaslighting. Now they’re trying to say that I said black people were doing better under Jim Crow. I never said that.”
.@RepJeffries you need to check your sources and stop lying to the American people because you and @JoeBiden are losing Black men.
I didn’t say that.
This is what I said 👇🏿 https://t.co/ZE6Qaqoadz pic.twitter.com/GoPh5HnsJM
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) June 5, 2024
Donalds, clearly incensed by the twisting of his words, then continued, informing viewers that “They are lying. But, why would you be surprised? Because they always lie.”
The congressman brought up Biden’s notorious comment from the 2020 election cycle, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Donalds then went on to clarify what he actually said Tuesday and to give context to illustrate what he actually meant.
Donalds explained that, “what I said was that you had more black families under Jim Crow, and it was the Democrat policies under H.E.W., under the welfare state, that did help to destroy the black family. That’s what I said.”
Donalds then noted that “I also said that you’re seeing a reinvigoration of black families today in America, and that is a good thing. So didn’t listen to the lies from the Biden administration, I know what I said, and I’ll say it straight to camera.”
Donalds was right to call out Jeffries and the Democrats for twisting his words.
Donalds was making a very specific point about how Democratic policies designed to encourage dependence on the government have led to the degradation of black families, and he was absolutely correct in his assessment.
As he noted at the original event and his response video, many black voters have woken up to that fact and decided to take their lives back into their own hands.
Jeffries was race-baiting and trying to stir up controversy because he, along with the rest of the part, is worried about Trump’s inroads with urban voters.
Of course, if they are that worried, perhaps they should look at revising their own unpopular policies, rather than painting their opponents as racists.
Because, nowadays, most people aren’t going to let those accusations go unanswered.
