Byron Donalds Clashes with ABC Host Over Questions Regarding Harris' Racial Identity
The Florida Republican stated that the controversy was not his preferred topic of discussion, despite actively addressing it.
TroibNews 
Rep. Byron Donalds, in an interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos, dismissed the significance of Donald Trump questioning Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity, despite Donalds himself frequently broaching the topic.
In a heated exchange on ABC's "This Week," Donalds and Stephanopoulos clashed over Trump's recent remarks, leading to numerous interruptions and moments of frustration between them.
"This is really a phony controversy," Donalds stated. "I don't really care, most people don't, but if we're going to be accurate, when Kamala Harris went into the United States Senate, it was AP that said she was the Indian-American United States senator. It was actually played up a lot," he noted, referencing the Associated Press.
Stephanopoulos countered.
"And you just repeated the slur again. If it doesn't matter," Stephanopoulos inquired, "why do you all keep questioning her identity? She's always identified as a black woman. She is biracial. She has a Jamaican father and Indian mother. She's always identified as both. Why are you questioning that?"
Donalds, a staunch supporter of Trump, argued that the topic was prevalent on "social media."
"There are a lot of people who are trying to figure this out, but again, that's a side issue, not the main issue," Donalds commented, prompting Stephanopoulos to interrupt amid ongoing cross-talk, "You just did it again. Why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?"
Donalds asserted that most of Trump's speech on Saturday was not centered on Harris' racial identity. Stephanopoulos then questioned if it was acceptable for Trump to engage in such questioning, even if only briefly.
In response, Donalds shifted the conversation back to critiquing Harris' overall record and reiterated an AP headline about her from 2016 when she was elected to the Senate from California.
Stephanopoulos persisted, asking why Donalds kept repeating the same point; Donalds retorted that Stephanopoulos was the one continually raising the issue, leading to further cross-talk.
"Every single time you repeat the slur," Stephanopoulos said. "That's exactly my point."
On Wednesday, during a National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago, Trump suggested that Harris had only recently identified as Black for political reasons.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black,” Trump remarked to ABC's Rachel Scott at the NABJ event. “So I don’t know: Is she Indian or is she Black?”
The Associated Press wrote in November 2016: "Harris will enter the chamber as the first Indian woman elected to a Senate seat and the second black woman, following Carol Moseley Braun, who served a single term after being elected in 1992," referencing the former Illinois senator. Various news outlets ran the story under different headlines, as is common with wire-service articles.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, responding to the Donalds interview, criticized Trump's comments about Harris as impulsive rather than strategic.
"You can't imagine that anybody who understands anything about politics would say, hey, here's a great idea: Go to the National Association of Black Journalists and question whether Kamala Harris is really black or not," he stated during a panel discussion with Stephanopoulos and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.
Christie, a former GOP presidential candidate in 2016 and 2024, suggested that Trump's rhetoric indicates panic about the direction of the race. He also noted Trump's critical remarks about Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp.
"This is who he is, George. This is personal. He's juvenile," Christie said.
Brazile compared Trump's remarks to the birtherism conspiracy theories that Trump and others propagated during Barack Obama's presidency.
"This is an old playbook. America's tired of this playbook," she commented.
Olivia Brown contributed to this report for TROIB News
In a heated exchange on ABC's "This Week," Donalds and Stephanopoulos clashed over Trump's recent remarks, leading to numerous interruptions and moments of frustration between them.
"This is really a phony controversy," Donalds stated. "I don't really care, most people don't, but if we're going to be accurate, when Kamala Harris went into the United States Senate, it was AP that said she was the Indian-American United States senator. It was actually played up a lot," he noted, referencing the Associated Press.
Stephanopoulos countered.
"And you just repeated the slur again. If it doesn't matter," Stephanopoulos inquired, "why do you all keep questioning her identity? She's always identified as a black woman. She is biracial. She has a Jamaican father and Indian mother. She's always identified as both. Why are you questioning that?"
Donalds, a staunch supporter of Trump, argued that the topic was prevalent on "social media."
"There are a lot of people who are trying to figure this out, but again, that's a side issue, not the main issue," Donalds commented, prompting Stephanopoulos to interrupt amid ongoing cross-talk, "You just did it again. Why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?"
Donalds asserted that most of Trump's speech on Saturday was not centered on Harris' racial identity. Stephanopoulos then questioned if it was acceptable for Trump to engage in such questioning, even if only briefly.
In response, Donalds shifted the conversation back to critiquing Harris' overall record and reiterated an AP headline about her from 2016 when she was elected to the Senate from California.
Stephanopoulos persisted, asking why Donalds kept repeating the same point; Donalds retorted that Stephanopoulos was the one continually raising the issue, leading to further cross-talk.
"Every single time you repeat the slur," Stephanopoulos said. "That's exactly my point."
On Wednesday, during a National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago, Trump suggested that Harris had only recently identified as Black for political reasons.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black,” Trump remarked to ABC's Rachel Scott at the NABJ event. “So I don’t know: Is she Indian or is she Black?”
The Associated Press wrote in November 2016: "Harris will enter the chamber as the first Indian woman elected to a Senate seat and the second black woman, following Carol Moseley Braun, who served a single term after being elected in 1992," referencing the former Illinois senator. Various news outlets ran the story under different headlines, as is common with wire-service articles.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, responding to the Donalds interview, criticized Trump's comments about Harris as impulsive rather than strategic.
"You can't imagine that anybody who understands anything about politics would say, hey, here's a great idea: Go to the National Association of Black Journalists and question whether Kamala Harris is really black or not," he stated during a panel discussion with Stephanopoulos and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.
Christie, a former GOP presidential candidate in 2016 and 2024, suggested that Trump's rhetoric indicates panic about the direction of the race. He also noted Trump's critical remarks about Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp.
"This is who he is, George. This is personal. He's juvenile," Christie said.
Brazile compared Trump's remarks to the birtherism conspiracy theories that Trump and others propagated during Barack Obama's presidency.
"This is an old playbook. America's tired of this playbook," she commented.
Olivia Brown contributed to this report for TROIB News
