Republican Lawmaker Gives Unhinged Answer on Free and Fair Elections
One of the MAGA foot soldiers tapped as a potential vice president pick by Donald Trump argued in an interview on Fox Business on Friday that the federal government “should not be involved in elections.”
“There are a lot of questions about some of the efforts around the open border and what it means for the census and what it might mean for the upcoming election,” started Maria Bartiromo. “What are you doing to ensure a transparent and free election in November?”
“The federal government, we don’t get involved in elections,” Donalds responded. “We should not be involved in elections. That is something that states have to do.”
Byron’s answer then extended into the territory of fearmongering, baselessly claiming that New York state allows undocumented immigrants to participate in elections—which it absolutely does not.
“Unfortunately, New Yorkers lost their ever-loving mind, I don’t know what they’re doing in that state when it comes to the law, but it’s going to be incumbent on other states to make sure that illegal aliens do not vote in our upcoming elections,” he added.
While the Florida Republican may not have intended to involve Trump in his answer, it’s hard to ignore the irony in his words. The former president—who is on the wire for a slew of criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results while he was still president—would definitely fall under the umbrella of his critique.
Donalds has been critical of Trump in the past. In a batch of recently unearthed messages, he referred to Trump as a “huge distraction” and celebrated when Trump announced he wouldn’t run against former President Barack Obama.
“Trump is a huge distraction, and cares more about himself than the country in my opinion, but I could care less about him,” he wrote in a 2011 Facebook post, referring to Trump’s attacks on Obama’s birth certificate.
BARTIROMO: What are you doing to ensure a transparent and free election in November?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 29, 2024
REP. BYRON DONALDS: The federal government, we don't get involved in elections. We should not be involved in elections. pic.twitter.com/pwS9SAdba1