Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said Thursday that it was “equally as wrong” for Democrats to accuse President Donald Trump of being a white supremacist as it was to storm the Capitol.
“It was wrong. Flat out wrong for the members on the other side of the aisle to use that [language],” Donalds told “Fox & Friends.”
“What happened in the Capitol last week was wrong. It was a tragedy for our country. It was, in some respects, yes, an insurrection. But to use white supremacy and this language is also equally as wrong,” Donalds continued. (RELATED: Rep. McClintock: ‘If We Had Prosecuted BLM And Antifa … With The Same Determination,’ Capitol Riot Might Not Have Happened)
The congressman suggested it was time that lawmakers started holding themselves “accountable” for using inflammatory language.
During the impeachment debate Wednesday, Democratic representatives attacked Trump as a racist and white supremacist, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who called the president the “racist-in-chief.”
Donalds called expressions like that “outrageous. I thought it was awful.” He noted that President-elect Joe Biden is “a white man himself. So I don’t even understand what this whole line is coming from about white supremacy and so on and so forth.”
The congressman recalled that black and Hispanic Americans also voted for Trump in the 2020 election. “So I think that this line is something the left always does. They always try to bring race into something in order to weaponize their arguments, to make people just frankly be quiet to shut up and to sit down.” (RELATED: REPORT: McConnell Believes Trump Committed Impeachable Offenses)
President Donald Trump greets his supporters at Valley International Airport on Jan. 12, 2021 in Harlingen, Texas. President Trump later delivered remarks during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico Border in Alamo, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced the one article of impeachment on Tuesday that accuses Trump of inciting insurrection. On Jan. 6, Trump supporters fought with Capitol Police and stormed the Capitol building, forcing members of Congress to seek safety while five people were killed in the riot.
Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump, led by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. According to one report, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is considering voting for impeachment if and when the upper chamber considers the issue.