Byron Donalds Criticizes George Stephanopoulos Over Heated Exchange on Live TV

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) clashed with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos during a heated interview on "This Week" over the weekend. The exchange, which quickly turned contentious, centered on former President Donald Trump’s comments about Vice President Kamala Harris’s racial identity and the broader implications of her political record.

During the interview, Stephanopoulos questioned Donalds about Trump’s remarks, which have stirred controversy regarding Harris's identity. Donalds dismissed the issue as a “phony controversy” that most Americans do not care about, pointing out that the Associated Press once referred to Harris as the “first Indian-American US Senator” in its headlines. “It doesn’t really matter. The president mentioned it,” Donalds said. “What he also talks about far more frequently is the fact that Kamala Harris is the person who created this massive inflation which is destroying black families, white families, Hispanic families. It’s her failure as border czar that has left our southern border wide open. More than 10 million illegal immigrants coming into our country. Record fentanyl coming into our country which has killed more Americans than at any other point in the history of our country with respect specifically to fentanyl.”

Stephanopoulos interrupted Donalds, accusing him of repeating a "slur" and questioning why he would cast doubt on Harris's racial identity. “Well, George, first of all, this is something that’s actually a conversation throughout social media right now,” Donalds said. “There were a lot of people who were trying to figure this out. But again, that’s a side issue, not the main issue.”

Stephanopoulos responded by raising his voice: “You just did it — you just did it again. Why do you — why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?”

After Stephanopoulos’s outburst, Donalds attempted to refocus the conversation on what he viewed as Harris’s political shortcomings. “George, now that you’re done yelling at me, let me answer. He talked about it on the stage yesterday in Atlanta for, what, two minutes? He spent more than 35, 40 minutes going after her record, talking about how radical of a senator that she was. She was the most liberal senator in the United States Senate. That is a fact. He talked about the job that she did as vice president of the United States. A job, I will add, which has been a failure for the American people. I know you guys like to glom on to this, that he talks about in jest or in a serious manner for about a minute or so. What you do not cover is the litany of failures of Kamala Harris. That’s what you’re not covering, George.”

Stephanopoulos pressed further, asking, “So questioning somebody’s racial identity for a couple of minutes is OK?” Donalds defended his stance by pointing to media coverage as the source of the controversy, noting that publications like the AP had initially highlighted Harris's mixed heritage.

“I mean, George, we could have this conversation for the entire segment, but none of this matters to the American people,” Donalds emphasized. “What matters to the American people is, are we going to have the same policies of the Biden-Harris administration that has been destructive of the American people? Or are we going to have the policies of the Trump administration which put America first, had low inflation, prosperous Americans no matter your race, no matter your color, no matter your creed, and a foreign policy that kept America safe?”

“Those are the facts that truly matter because this issue is going to come and go, the lives of the American people is what’s going to remain and that’s what matters more than anything else,” he added.

Stephanopoulos accused Donalds of continuously repeating the issue, even though the conversation topic originated from Stephanopoulos himself. “George, actually, I’m not the one who keeps repeating it,” Donalds responded. “George, you’re the one that’s bringing it up now.”

“Sir, you’ve done it — you’ve done it three times, every single answer you gave me,” Stephanopoulos claimed. “Every single answer you gave, you repeated the slur.”

Donalds responded: “George, you asked me the question three times.”

The heated exchange highlights the growing tensions over how media outlets handle political discourse and the focus on racial identity politics. Donalds's defense of Trump and his criticisms of Harris reflect the broader political divide as the country prepares for the upcoming election cycle.

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