Rep. Byron Donalds Slams Democrats Accusing GOP of Pushing White Nationalism at Border Hearing: ‘I’m Not Doing That!’
Florida Republican Byron Donalds took exception Tuesday to Democrats saying that Republicans are spreading White nationalism with the hearing on border security.
There were several Republicans who brought up the issue during the House Oversight hearing, but Rep. Donalds, who is Black, was the first, doing so before the hearing even got to the questions and answers about border policy and and border patrol.
The controversy started with a from the official Twitter account for Oversight Committee Democrats that went out ahead of the hearing, which was officially titled “On The Front Lines of the Border Crisis: A Hearing with Chief Patrol Agents.”
“Good morning and good luck to everyone except @GOPoversight members who are using today’s hearing to amplify White nationalist conspiracy theories instead of a comprehensive solution to protect our borders and strengthen our immigration system,” the Democratic account tweeted.
Donalds interrupted Tuesday’s hearing to address the tweet and tell his colleagues that if they want to accuse him of having White nationalist beliefs, he’d appreciate that conversation happen “face to face.”
“My colleagues on the other side of the aisle who want to state that we’re using this hearing for White nationalism. I’m not doing that,” Donalds said.
The freshman Republican congressman accused his colleagues of not taking the hearing seriously.
“So if you feel that strongly come to this side of the room and let’s talk about it face to face, only that kind of silly stuff for somebody else. Don’t bring that here today. This stuff is serious,” he said.
Others condemned the tweet too, including Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
“While vigorous disagreement is part of the legislative process. Members are reminded that we must adhere to established standards of decorum and debate,” Comer said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) at one point accused Democrats of “engaging in aiding and abetting traffickers” by advocating for defunding Border Patrol, which Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector Chief sector chief John R. Modlin admitted was comprised mainly of first generation or second generation Hispanic immigrants.
“Clearly we don’t have a White supremacy [issue] in this country, it’s an illegal immigration one,” she said.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) later asked Modlin and Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez if either of them were testifying to promote “White supremacy.” Both answered no.
At Tuesday’s hearing, border officials detailed the overwhelming situation at the border. Modlin said migrant numbers quadrupled in 2022 over 2018-2020 and has now reached a point where “I no longer have an adjective to describe what’s going on.”
Watch above via CSPAN.
