‘Blatantly outrageous’: Byron Donalds fires back at Cori Bush over race-based attack
Ryan King
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Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) tore into liberal star Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-MO) for making “blatantly outrageous” broadsides against him in which she belittled his speakership nod as a “prop.”
The congressman countered that if she has gripes with his policies, she should debate him rather than resorting to low blows. On Wednesday, House Republican rebels nominated Donalds as an alternative pick for House speaker, resulting in the first ballot to include two black nominees to be speaker, but Bush slammed his policy agenda for “perpetuating white supremacy.”
‘HE IS A PROP’: CORI BUSH DIMINISHES BYRON DONALDS SPEAKERSHIP NOD
“If you see a Black man rise, let the man rise even if you disagree with them. I’d be happy to sit down and debate our policies one on one whenever you’d like. As a black man to a black woman, I’d never do that to you. It’s a shame you did it to me,” Donalds tweeted alongside a clip of a Fox Business interview in which he addressed the rift.
https://twitter.com/RepDonaldsPress/status/1611009574135562253
Donalds was the first House Republican to flip sides during the GOP deadlock over the speaker’s gavel, having initially voted twice in favor of aspiring Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) before backing alternative picks. He has kept the door open to backing McCarthy again.
Republican dissidents hailed the nomination of Donalds as an alternative for making history as the first time two black congressmen were major nominees to be speaker. Presumptive House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was the other black nominee.
“@ByronDonalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy. His name being in the mix is not progress—it’s pathetic,” Bush tweeted in response to a Republican defector lauding Donalds.
Congress remains in paralysis heading into proceedings Thursday, with McCarthy having failed to secure a majority during six rounds of voting earlier this week. At most, he has earned 203 votes, below the 218-vote threshold, and faces an opposition of about 20 members.
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In a bid to win over the rebels, McCarthy has reportedly offered to lower the threshold for a vote to oust a speaker, allow more members of the Freedom Caucus on the House Rules Committee, and have the Republican-aligned political action committee, the Congressional Leadership Fund, not interfere in open Republican primaries, CNN reported.
Votes are expected to continue until a speaker is selected. Some members of Congress have floated the possibility of Republicans cutting a deal with Democrats to end the stalemate. Presumptive House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) is widely considered a Republican alternative to McCarthy, though it is not clear that he can amass 218 votes.