Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) condemned the remarks of Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL) for saying she is a "proud Guatemalan before I'm an American" in a recent appearance on Fox Business's Bottom Line.
Rep. Ramirez made the statement in Spanish during an address at the second annual Panamerican Congress in Mexico City, which sparked outrage since she is a sitting Congresswoman.
However, the Illinois Congresswoman doubled down in a statement, saying, "Let's call it what it is: today's attacks are a weak attempt to silence my dissent and invalidate my patriotic criticism of the nativist, white supremacist, authoritarians in government."
Rep. Donalds responded on The Bottom Line, saying, "I have never had a chance to meet Delia, but let me just say: You do not get to represent another country before you represent the United States of America."
"That is the oath we all take, not just as members of Congress," Rep. Donalds continued, adding, "The President takes that oath, every governor and every state legislator in our country, they take the same oath. And to say that you are more Guatemalan than you are American is reprehensible. You have a duty to represent the American people who voted for you to be their representative, not to put them in second-class status."
However, the Florida Congressman suggested that statements such as Ramirez's are "very typical of the left because when you look at what they advocate for, it does not matter if it is Hamas or some Third World country where they think it is okay for people to come into our country illegally, regardless of the implications on the American people."
"Too many elected Democrats are far too concerned about representing interests outside the United States of America as opposed to representing the people that they were elected to serve," Donalds concluded. "That is not a white supremacist statement, that is not a nativist statement. That is a real statement, that is a constitutional statement, and it is the standard that every elected official should have."
