Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) suggested that recent outbursts by Democratic lawmakers during congressional hearings mark the latest example of the party’s lack of direction for the future and that it is instead getting into “the weeds” over unnecessary issues.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem all butted heads with Democrats during congressional hearings this week. Duffy and Noem pushed back against claims made against them and the Trump administration. Duffy denied that 400 air traffic controllers were fired under Trump’s watch, and Noem fended off Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) pressing her on whether a photo of illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia was edited.
Donalds said these public demonstrations show how the Democratic Party is currently in “full desperation.”
“Look, the Democrats really don’t have any leadership, they don’t know where to take their party,” Donalds said on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle. “Are they going to moderate? Are they going to become more progressive? Are they going to stay in Democrat status quo? They don’t know, and so all they have is the lashout factor by doing these types of hearings, raising the craziest things that don’t actually matter, getting caught in the weeds on weird people like Kilmar Garcia, like, that’s now the poster child for what deportations are going to look like in the United States. The Democrats are going to take that side of the argument?”
Donalds also directed specific criticism toward Swalwell, claiming he has “no credibility,” and explained that the photo he asked about was edited and had “a caption” to translate Abrego Garcia’s tattoos. The Florida lawmaker went on to state that President Donald Trump won the support of the country by promising to fix the nation’s illegal immigration problem, leaving the opposing party to “defend the indefensible.”
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“So if they continue to do this, they’re going to lose, but that’s ok because they have no policy, they have no strategy. Republicans have the solution for the future of this nation and command the Cabinet of President Trump,” Donalds said.
Donalds is currently running in Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial election to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, and has already been endorsed by Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). DeSantis’s wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, has yet to announce if she will run, though former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz has suggested she would likely be “the instant frontrunner” if she does.