Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., fired back at MSNBC's Joy Reid on Sunday after the far-left host referred to him as the "Black guy" Republicans deploy as phony proof of support from African-Americans.
Reid, known for her vitriol against Black conservatives, didn't hold back after Donalds spoke following former President Trump's rally in the deep-blue Bronx on Thursday, which featured a notably diverse audience.
"The one Black guy that Republicans love to roll out as fake proof that Black people, the Blacks, are MAGA, they’re MAGA," Reid said on Friday. "It’s a joke, and just as credible as when they said they were going to make that guy Speaker of the House."
But Donalds responded to Reid's criticism during an interview on Fox News Sunday, labeling the MSNBC host's comments as an attempt to tear him down for his success.
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"I find Joy's comments to be nothing more than crabs in a barrel," Donalds told Fox News Sunday's Shannon Bream. "Just because I have a different viewpoint, different way of looking at the world, different politics, now, all of a sudden, I'm being used. You can make an argument that MSNBC is using her."
Reid has previously referred to Black Republicans like Donalds and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., as tokens for the party.
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When Donalds was nominated as House Speaker in 2023, Reid said it was a cynical effort to make the party seem more diverse, quipping, "Any Black guy will do."
In 2021, she said Scott's presence at a press conference about GOP opposition to a minimum wage mandate was merely to provide a "patina of diversity." The previous year, Reid referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as "Uncle Clarence," a clear reference to the "Uncle Tom" slur against Blacks viewed as too deferential to Whites.
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Donalds said the diverse crowd that congregated at Trump's Bronx-based rally was a result of Democrats creating a "disaster" in New York City and nationwide.
"You had a very diverse crowd, people from the Bronx, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Black people, White people, all there supporting President Trump, because they've seen the disaster that is New York City," Donalds said on Sunday. "They've seen the disaster that has come to the United States of America because of the master of disaster, Joe Biden himself, and they want Donald Trump back."
Donalds added that Trump isn't trying to divide Americans based on race.
"We're looking at expanding the political map, not shrinking it based upon race or anything else, because that's what Joy Reid and Joe Biden and the rest of them want to do," Donalds said. "They want to shrink the political map based upon previous dogma and racial lines.
"That is not what President Trump's focus is," he said. "His focus is on all of America."
