Just as former Republican Congressman Allen West did in 2011 after winning his congressional race, Republican congressional nominee Byron Donalds, who has all-but elected to the U.S. Congress after winning the contentious Republican primary race in Florida’s GOP-heavy 19th District, says he will join the House Freedom Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus once he wins the general election this November
Then Rep-elect Allen West declared that he would join the all-Democrat Congressional Black Caucus to challenge the group’s “monolithic” ideology that has failed the Black community.
After accepting the CBC’s hesitant invitation, West became the first black Republican member of the House of Representatives from Florida since Reconstruction to join, and the first Republican member since 1997 to be allowed in. After winning her election to the House in 2014, Rep. Mia Love (R) joined the caucus.
Now Donalds looks to follow in West and Love’s footsteps, but the problem that the probable member of congress will have is that the group is solely aligned with Democrat Party ideals, and appears to frown upon Republicans joining because of their opposition to their agenda.
If he is invited to join the CBC, the friction between Donalds' and the groups contrasting ideologies would make for some entertaining reading.
“Working with the members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the issues that line up with my principles should be easy but I also think it's important that in the Congressional Black Caucus we have people from all sides of politics that are black to be a member of that caucus,” said Donalds.
When asked about how Democrat House members, specifically members of the CBC, have not denounced the violent rioting by supporters of the Black Lives Matter and from anarchists that have gripped the nation in the name of racial equality, Donalds made the case for why law enforcement needs to be fully funded.
“I think is misguided you know,” said Donalds No, I think if you really look at our communities haven't grown up you know in the inner city of Brooklyn NY, you know we need the police in our communities we need to have men and women in blue who are there protecting serve when something happens in our homes or to our families, we have somebody we can call on.
“I don't care what you say about the defund or re-allocating whatever you want to say when you take money out of the police budget you're taking officers off the street,” Donalds When you take officers off the street you're increasing response times. When you increase response times you actually are creating a scenario where law-abiding citizens whether they're black white Hispanic whatever more exposed to the criminal element and that does not help our communities.”
