(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., slammed two media networks on separate occasions after leftist hosts attempted to run cover for the high inflation and crime under the Biden-Harris administration.
During a Tuesday interview on iHeartRadio’s The Breakfast Club, Donalds asserted that inflation was “brought to us by Kamala Harris,” triggering interruptions from co-hosts Angel Rye and Charlamagne tha God. Both leftist hosts downplayed Harris’s influence in driving up inflation, but this defense did not convince Donalds.
“By Kamala?” Charlamagne questioned.
“Yes,” Donalds replied, to which Charlamagne countered, “She’s the vice president.”
“Charlamagne, listen man—when Joe Biden wanted to do his American Rescue Plan, Kamala Harris was a tiebreaking vote in the United States Senate she broke the tide and started this inflation that has hurt so many people in our country everybody,” Donalds affirmed decisively.
Rye, appearing virtually, jumped in with a false claim: “That’s not true.”
“It’s not true?” Donalds asked as Rye’s response became inaudible. “You sure you want to go there? … Okay let’s go there.”
Donalds reached into his pocket and took out what appeared to be a printout of a news report about Harris’s tie-breaking vote for the controversial American Rescue Plan of 2021.
“He got notes, Ang. He got notes, Angela Rye,” Charlamagne joked. Rye remained notably silent after that, choosing to change the subject on Donalds’s record instead.
This isn’t Donalds’s first time putting leftist commentators to task. He lectured CNN host Abby Phillip and strategist Keith Boykin after they claimed crime rates weren’t rising.
“Crime is not massively up, that’s a lie!” Boykin shouted, as transcribed by the Daily Caller. “You’re lying! You’re lying! The FBI just released data this week that crime is going down! Oh my Go—Abby, why do you let this man lie?”
Remaining poised and calm, Donalds pointed to CNN’s own chart which demonstrated that crime remains historically high compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“Well, I’m looking at your chart right now, 2021 is when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office, look at that spike up in violent crime,” Donalds explained.
“I’m not even twisting the facts,” the Republican lawmaker pointed, highlighting CNN’s chart. “You put up a chart. I just looked at the chart myself. The bottom line was from 2021. Well, what happened in 2021? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office. This is when Democrat politicians were all the rage for defund the police.”
Donalds: Crime is massively up
Boykin: You’re lying, Omg. Abby why do you let this man lie pic.twitter.com/AJHpQfd6LE
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 1, 2024
Donalds’s comments come as Democrats attempt to save face about the crime in the U.S. While the FBI showed that violent crime is down 2.8 percent, it remains disproportionately high compared to when President Donald Trump was in office.