CNN blindsides Black Republican with supercut of Trump’s most racist statements
GOP freshman says former president ‘does not matter’ after he faces reel of racist remarks
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Your support makes all the difference.A Black Republican congressman was blindsided by a CNN anchor after she confronted him with Donald Trump’s racist comments.
During an appearance on Thursday, Florida congressman Byron Donalds complained that he had not been invited to join the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) before CNN’s Brianna Keilar presented the footage.
"I have a perspective being a 42-year-old Black man who has come up in America after a lot of the battles through the civil rights movement that I think would be helpful and a helpful perspective to the CBC," Mr Donalds told CNN.
Ms Keilar then accused the congressman of backing the former US president and false allegations of election fraud that were “the basis, really, for all of the bills” trying to reduce voting access for Black Americans.
She added: “Do you think that that is something that might be incongruent with the mission of the CBC?"
After a brief discussion about voting rights, Ms Keilar then played a reel of Mr Trump’s remarks on race, including his defence of the the Confederate flag.
The former president was also shown saying that NFL players who protested against racism and police brutality were a “son of a b****”.
CNN’s Ms Keilar then continued: "Do you think that your defence of a person that said things like that might be incongruent with the mission of the CBC?"
Mr Donald hit back by saying that "whatever the president said in the past has nothing to do with this discussion at all”, before the CNN anchor interjected: "Well, you've defended him."
"Please don't cut me off," the congressman told Ms Keilar. "I have not cut you off in this interview, please do not do that to me. Thank you. As a Black man in America, I'm allowed to have my own thoughts on who I choose to support and who I choose not to support”.
In a statement, Mr Donalds told The Independent: "The Congressional Black Caucus has a stated commitment to ensuring Black Americans have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.”
“As a newly elected Black Member of Congress, my political party should not exempt me from a seat at the table dedicated to achieving this goal.”
According to Buzzfeed News, the Black caucus is against Mr Donald’s attempts to join, although it has included Republicans in the past.
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