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Doral, Florida - Congressman Byron Donalds, R-Florida, represents the Naples area on the South Gulf Coast, but this week he visited Miami for a reception in a local micro-brewery. This reception attracted some 200 guests, coming from as far away as Broward and Palm Beach counties, and exceeded the parking capacity of the brewery. The reception hosts were led by Armando Ibarra, head of Miami Young Republicans, and included MYR Board members Jessica Fernandez, Brandon Diaz, Miguel Granda, Luis Valdes-Jimenez and Barbara Balmaceda.
Guests included: (1) Roger Stone, who observed that, in addition to President Biden, other political leaders who imprisoned their opponents include Stalin, Hitler and Castro. (2) Kevin Cabrera, a Miami-Dade County Commissioner who hosted Donald Trump at Versailles Cuban café on his way to the airport after being arraigned in the federal court house of downtown Miami. See: https://miamiindependent.com/trump-in-versailles/. And (3) Driena Sixto, Field Manager for Turning Point Action, the political action affiliate of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, who is leading their local initiative to “Chase the Vote.” See: https://miamiindependent.com/turning-point-action-in-west-palm-beach/.
Congressman Donalds was one of 20 courageous conservative Republicans who, earlier this year, extracted concessions from Speaker McCarthy in return for his election to that office. During this contest, several Congressmen from the Freedom Caucus nominated Donalds for Speaker, and he received votes consistently until a final deal was reached. This shows that his colleagues in Congress recognize his leadership skills and reliable conservatism. Afterwards, all Americans were betrayed by Speaker McCarthy’s deal with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling, which caused our federal debt to rise by over $1 trillion in less than five weeks thereafter. Speaker McCarthy preferred a deal with Democrats than with conservative Republicans.
The Congressman’s leadership in Washington and consistent conservative advocacy has caught the attention of grassroots groups throughout the State of Florida, singling him out as a likely candidate to run for governor in 2026, which is not so long away. He needs to lay the groundwork for a gubernatorial campaign in order to defeat the RINO candidates who are sure to arise, especially Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson.
Donalds is one of about a dozen Florida Republican Congressmen who support Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, compared with 90% of Florida Republican state legislators who support Governor DeSantis. He proudly proclaims himself to be a MAGA conservative, and bills himself as a conservative leader to fight swamp creatures of both parties. He characterizes himself as a black man who supports Trump, is pro-life and pro-2nd Amendment, loves liberty, and is politically incorrect. He opposes sanctuary cities, supports lower taxes, and defends our constitutional rights.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Florida State University, and before joining the state legislature, he was a partner in a local financial firm, so he is not in politics to make a living. He and his wife are strong supporters of school choice. He was raised by a single-mother immigrant from Jamaica who appears to have pounded bourgeois virtues into him.
During his initial campaign for Congress in 2020, he joined the “Freedom Force,” a group of incoming Republicans dedicated to fighting socialism in America. As a result, he was banned from joining the Congressional Black Caucus. Around January 6, 2021, he voted against the certification of presidential electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania, and has since challenged the legitimacy of President Biden’s election. He has called for impeachment proceedings to commence against President Biden immediately, but Speaker McCarthy must be having trouble impeaching the President with whom he just cut a debt ceiling deal.
At this reception, Donalds reported on the situation in Congress from a conservative perspective, especially the overwhelming evidence against the Biden Crime Family, and all the hoax indictments of Donald Trump. He proclaimed that we have a job to do in the election next November to save America from the radical left. Left-wing policies that he criticized included energy dependence, open borders, transgender ideology, war mongering and unsustainable spending. He noted that Democrat policies should repel suburban women, because Democrats do not respect women and their roles in our lives, and that the administrative state is criminalizing political dissent in its prosecutions of Donald Trump. He emphasized that electoral victory is required to restore the rule of law and fiscal discipline. He got a big positive response when he referred to Jason Aldean’s hit song “Try That in a Small Town.”
He also observed that America is the best country for opportunity in the world, and that he could not have achieved career success and led the life that he has lived in any other country. America is too great to squander, and we must defend liberty here, so that we do not lose it like it happened in Latin America and Eastern Europe. He attributed leftist ideology to stupidity and craziness, although it may have a more sinister source in the will to power and control over other people, but at least he recognizes and rejects it.
Donalds consistently points out that the largest problem challenging Americans is inflation, which reduces the purchasing power of both working people and retired folks. He insists that his first priority is to cut federal spending, which is the source of inflation - - too much money chasing too few goods. He also continues to support Trump’s presidential campaign, and is emboldened by all the hoax indictments. If asked, he is open to serving as Trump’s Vice President, and would consider that an honor. Trump is not likely to pick a VP candidate from his own State of Florida, however, because of constitutional complications if nothing else. Nevertheless, Donalds would make a more effective VP candidate than the other presidential candidates, including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Congressman Donalds is part of a group of black conservative office-holders, which includes Attorney General Daniel Cameron running for governor in Kentucky this year, and Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson running for governor in North Carolina next year, who are changing the face of the Republican party. Together with Latino conservatives, they are making the party more diverse and inclusive, but doing it naturally by achievement, without relying on affirmative action. They constitute an essential component of the future of the conservative movement in the Republican party. Within three years, the South may have more black Republican governors than at any time since Reconstruction.
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Research assistance for this column was graciously provided by Henry Zarb and Ana Margarita Martinez.
