Republican slammed for 'ignorant' comment about Black families in Jim Crow era

Republican congressman Byron Donalds has found himself in the middle of controversy after he claimed that Black families were better off during the Jim Crow era.

During a Black GOP outreach event in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Donalds, who is Black, said, "during Jim Crow the Black family was together."

He then added, "during Jim Crow, more Black people were - not just conservative, because Black people always have been conservative-minded - but more Black people voted conservatively."

His words sparked backlash from Democrats.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on the House floor, "It has come to my attention that a so-called leader has made the factually inaccurate statement that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow." Jeffries proceeded to list aspects of that era, such as suppression of the Black vote and lynching. "How dare you make such an ignorant observation? You better check yourself before you wreck yourself."

Posting on Twitter/X, the Biden-Harris reelection campaign drew attention to Donalds' comments, saying, "Trump VP contender Byron Donalds claims life was better for Black Americans during Jim Crow."

But Donalds suggested that the media "twisted" his words.

In a video uploaded to his on Twitter/X account, Donalds said, "America, Joe Biden is lying to you once again."

"Now they're trying to say that I said, 'Black people were doing better under Jim Crow.' I never said that. They are lying."

He continued, "What I said was, you had more Black families under Jim Crow, and it was the Democrat policies, under H.E.W., under the welfare state, that did help to destroy the Black family. That's what I said. And I also said, you're seeing a reinvigoration of Black families today in America, and that is a good thing."

In a statement, Biden-Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said, "Donald Trump spent his adult life, and then his presidency undermining the progress Black communities fought so hard for — so it actually tracks that his campaign’s ‘Black outreach’ is going to a white neighborhood and promising to take America back to Jim Crow."

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