Rep. Byron Donalds Roasted For Saying Black People Were Better Off Under Jim Crow

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) declared that black people would be better off switching to the Republican party.

Donalds and Hunt went to Philadelphia on Tuesday evening for the “Congress, Cognac and Cigars” event. They tried convincing the mostly black audience why more black voters would benefit from leaving the Democratic Party.

“We were better off under Republicans than we were Democrats,” Hunt argued. “The reason why the Democrats have a hold on the black community is because our parents’ parents’ parents keep telling us, ‘You got to vote Democrat.'”

“It’s up to us in this generation to say, well, why?” he added.

The Florida representative, in particular, indicated that many black voters are essentially conservative and are slowly beginning to discover that the Republican Party more closely aligns with their values.

“That’s what’s happening in the black community,” he stated. “And that’s why you’re seeing the politics of the black community starting to shift back towards being conservative-minded.”

“Let’s talk about the racism here,” the Texas representative mentioned.

At one point at the event, Donalds claimed that black people had been better off under the Jim Crow laws, which ensured racial segregation in the South into 1960s.

That specific remark angered House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who conveyed his dissatisfaction during a House session on June 5.

“Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that a so-called leader has made the factually inaccurate statement that black folks were better off during Jim Crow,” Jeffries recounted. “That’s and outlandish, outrageous, and out-of-touch observation. We were not better off.”

“When a young boy, Emmett Hill, could be brutally murdered without consequence because of Jim Crow – we were not better off,” he added. “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 – we were not better off.”

“When children could be denied a high-quality education without consequence because of Jim Crow – we were not better off,” the House Democratic leader went on to say. “When people could be denied the right to vote without consequence because of Jim Crow – how dare you make such an ignorant observation. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

In January 2024, Donalds proposed to lengthen the work requirements for specific adults in the food stamps program known as WIC, raising the age threshold from 49 to 64.