SHANNON BREAM: All right. Joining us now, Florida Congressman Byron Donalds. It’s good to have you back.
Let’s start here. You heard what the Senator said about the fact that 30 to 40 percent of primary voters in a number of states are showing up to vote in the GOP primary for Nikki Haley.
Now, not all of those are closed, and so there’s going to be some party crossover. But why can’t President Trump put this thing away? Why are still 30, 40 percent of people showing up and voting in these primary contests for someone other than him?
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): Well, first of all, Shannon, it’s good to be back with you.
Let me first say this. In some of these early states, they allowed Independents and Democrat voters to vote on the Republican side when it comes to picking a nominee in these states.
And even with that influx with some Independents and Democrats, Donald Trump overwhelmingly won every single state.
Now we move to Super Tuesday. And let me just tell you, it’s basically over already. It’s going to be over Tuesday night when Super Tuesday ballots come in because there is no path to victory for Nikki Haley.
Look, on our side of the aisle, we believe in choices. We want options. The Democrats are the ones who basically kicked Robert F. Kennedy out of their primary. They basically stopped Dean Phillips from being able to even try to mount a campaign against Joe Biden.
Nikki Haley had an opportunity to run like everybody else. They all lost. Donald Trump’s the nominee. We’re going to move forward to November.
SHANNON BREAM: So he is essentially, many people think, running the party. You’ve heard a number of accusations on the show if you’ve been able to listen today that he’s the one who told you guys to kill a border deal.
He’s not the only one saying that though. That accusation is coming from both sides of the aisle. Take a listen to both sides.
REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Donald Trump simply has said to the MAGAs on the House side, don’t do it. Don’t do anything. Keep it a political issue.
NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Congress should have gone in a room, strengthened it and passed something out. But Donald Trump went and told the Republicans, don’t pass anything until after the general election because it would hurt him.
SHANNON BREAM: Your response.
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): First of all, you can’t listen to Nikki Haley. She’s the opponent. By the way, she’s losing big time.
You can’t listen to Mr. Meeks because the Democrats never want to solve the border issues. They’re the ones that created it.
Here’s what happened. The House Republicans passed H.R.2 over a year ago. Chuck Schumer did nothing with that bill. Never came up for a debate. The Senate never came to the House and said, you know what? Let’s work together in a bipartisan fashion based upon what the House has passed. And let’s see where we can meet in the middle.
You had Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats go into a smoke-filled room. They created a terrible deal.
And when the elements of this deal started being leaked out early, the 5,000 entrants per day, the fact that Joe Biden will be able to have waiver authority over all the provisions, House Republicans started signaling very early, led by Speaker Johnson, that we did not support that deal.
When it finally came out and everybody could read it, then everybody rejected it. Even Mitch McConnell voted against it. So it was a bad deal from the start.
The Democrats are playing the worst kind of politics, because Joe Biden is the one who broke our southern border. Those are his executive orders when he came into the White House. These are the 10 million people who’ve come in under his watch and he refuses to lift a finger.
Don’t talk about bipartisanship when the Senate Democrats would never even talk to House Republicans about what are the solutions. Because if there is going to be a compromise to be found, it is a negotiation between Senate Democrats and House Republicans.
Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden do not want to have that conversation.
SHANNON BREAM: OK. And just to clarify, because it keeps coming up, this issue of 5,000 people a day, the backers or the drafters of this, including James Lankford, who I know that you know and respect said, once you hit an average of 5,000 a day, which would happen in week one, then the entire border was closed, not that an additional 5,000 would be able to come.
Of course that went nowhere because I know there were other problems people have with the bill.
I want to read you something at “The Daily Beast” this weekend talking about a book that is not kind to Trump reporters — Trump supporters. They call them a threat to democracy and say this.
“In the popular imagination of many Americans, the typical MAGA supporter is a rural resident who hates black and brown people, loathes liberals, loves God and guns, believe in myriad conspiracy theories, has little faith in democracy, and is willing to use violence to achieve their goals. According to this new book, “White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy,” these aren’t hurtful elitist stereotypes, they’re facts.”
What do you make of that assessment of Trump supporters?
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): I find it to just be insane. I find it to be gaslighting black people and Hispanic people in our country.
I find it to be devoid of facts. Michael Cohen, obviously, has never been to a Trump rally and actually talk to Trump voters. That is a lie. It is disgusting. Are we even just having this conversation?
Let me tell you the truth. People who are MAGA Republicans, they just want the country to follow the law. They want the country to follow the Constitution. They want our leaders to put America first, not last.
They actually want sound money. They want low inflation. They want a secure border. And yet, they want to be respected across the globe. They don’t want to have to live under a president like Joe Biden who has a terrible foreign policy that has put our men and women overseas at risk, that is putting our allies at risk.
MAGA Republicans want a great America. They don’t want a fleeting America. They don’t want America in decline. That is what the Democrat Party has brought us. That’s the crazy progressive agenda from the radical left. The same radical agenda that would have us choose Hamas over Israel.
So whatever Michael Cohen wrote in his book, I really don’t care, because it makes no sense at all, because those aren’t the facts. I would invite him to come to any Trump rally he chooses. I’ll walk side-by-side with him and he can see what’s really going on.
SHANNON BREAM: OK.
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): And stop putting out this foolishness.
SHANNON BREAM: You tell us, and we’ll send a camera. I’ll join you two.
Congressman, thank you very much for your time. Always appreciate it.
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): Anytime.
SHANNON BREAM: Coming up, the Supreme Court takes on yet another case involving President Trump and a third state decides the former president shouldn’t be on their ballots. Our panel, next.
