Today’s spotlight is on ABC Washington correspondent and host of “This Week,” George Stephanopoulos, and his recent interaction with Trump surrogate and Florida Congressman Byron Donalds.
During a recent interview, Stephanopoulos asked Donalds to clarify why former President Trump questioned Vice President Harris’s racial identity. Unfazed, Donalds responded that this controversy was a non-issue, referring to the fact that when Kamala Harris entered the United States Senate, she was hailed as the first Indian American United States senator. Donalds argued that the majority of people are indifferent about Harris’s racial identity, but they are concerned about the current administration’s policies, which he believes have led to inflation and a border crisis.
Stephanopoulos got so mad at Donalds answer that his voice almost squeaked.
Stephanopoulos asked, “Why is former President Trump questioning the vice president’s racial identity?”
“Well, first, George, in Chicago he was responding to a question from, I believe, Rachel Scott. Like, this is really a phony controversy. I don’t really care. Most people don’t. But if we’re going to be accurate, when Kamala Harris went into the United States Senate, it was AP that said she was the first Indian American United States senator. It was actually played up a lot when she came into the Senate. Now she’s running nationally. Obviously, the campaign has shifted. They’re talking much more about – about her father’s heritage and her black identity,” Donalds said.
He added: “It doesn’t really matter. The president mentioned it. What he also talks about far more frequently is the fact that Kamala Harris is the person who created this massive inflation which is destroying black families, white families, Hispanic families. It’s her failure as border czar that has left our southern border wide open. More than 10 million illegal immigrants coming into our country. Record fentanyl coming into our country which has killed more Americans than at any other point in the history of our country with respect specifically to fentanyl.”
Then Donalds called out how the Biden-Kamala administration has created an economic and foreign policy disaster and that’s when good old George lost his mind.
Could you imagine if the press went at Harris like this? Biden could barely handle the press at his heels after the debate.
“George, now that you’re done yelling at me, let me answer” – @ByronDonalds to ABC’s @GStephanopoulos in contentious “interview” in which Stephanopoulos repeatedly accused Donalds of repeating a “slur” Stephanopoulos kept bring up. #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/TocOy8thMW
— Brent Baker (@BrentHBaker) August 4, 2024
Below is a partial transcript (it was nuts):
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you – and you just repeated the slur again. If it doesn’t matter, why do you all keep questioning her identity? She’s always identified as a black woman. She is biracial. She has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She’s always identified as both. Why are you questioning that?
DONALDS: Well, George, first of all, this is something that’s actually a conversation throughout social media right now. There were a lot of people who were trying to figure this out. But again, that’s a side issue, not the main issue. The main issue that’s (INAUDIBLE) – Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Sir, one second. So, you just did it – you just did it again.
DONALDS: George, (INAUDIBLE) for what (INAUDIBLE) –
STEPHANOPOULOS: Why – why do you – why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?
DONALDS: You want to talk or do you want me to talk?
STEPHANOPOULOS: I – I want you to answer my question.
DONALDS: OK, you don’t yelling at – George – George, now that you’re done yelling at me, let me answer.
He talked about it on the stage yesterday in Atlanta for, what, two minutes? He spent more than 35, 40 minutes going after her record, talking about how radical of a senator that she was. She was the most liberal senator in the United States – in the United States Senate. That is a fact. He talked about the job that she did as vice president of the United States. A job, I will add, which has been a failure for the American people. I know you guys like to glom on to this, that he talks about in jest or in a serious manner for about a minute or so. What you do not cover is the litany of failures of Kamala Harris. That’s what you’re not covering, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, question – so questioning somebody’s racial identity for a couple of minutes is OK?
DONALDS: George, I’m going to tell you again, he brought it up. AP is the one that wrote the headline when she first came into the United States Senate. Didn’t talk about her being black. Talked about her being the first Indian American senator. AP brought that up.
I mean, George, we could have this conversation for the entire segment, but none of this matters to the American people. What matters to the American people is, are we going to have the same policies of the Biden-Harris administration that has been destructive of the American people? Or are we going to have the policies of the Trump administration which put America first, had low inflation, prosperous Americans no matter your race, no matter your color, no matter your creed, and a foreign policy that kept America safe?
Those are the facts that truly matter because this issue is going to come and go, the lives of the American people is what’s going to remain and that’s what matters more than anything else.
STEPHANOPOULOS: If it doesn’t matter, I don’t understand why you keep on repeating it, why the president keeps on repeating it, why those introducing the president yesterday keep on repeating it.
DONALDS: George, actually, I’m not the one who keeps repeating it. George, you’re the one that’s bringing it up now. That’s — I don’t I understand why —
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: You’ve done — sir, you’ve done it — you’ve done it three times, every single answer you gave me.
Now, let me finish, sir —
DONALDS: George —
STEPHANOPOULOS: — every single answer you gave, you repeated the slur.
(CROSSTALK)
DONALDS: You asked me, George. That’s why I’m pushing back on you now.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Right.
DONALDS: George, you asked me the question three times, I responded but —
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: And every single time you repeat the slur, that is my — exactly my point. You simply can’t say that it’s wrong.
DONALDS: George, so then what you’re saying — so then what you — and I want to get off this topic because it’s not the only thing that’s going on. But, George, now you’re saying that “AP” is the one that slurred Kamala Harris? Because those are the facts.
You can go to the Internet and look at the clips, George, if you want to or we can talk about this now.
I prefer to talk about the future of our country because the American people are struggling. The American people do need serious policy decisions to be made and they need serious leadership on the world stage.
Kamala Harris has not proven that she can do that. Donald J. Trump has proven that he can do that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: “AP” did not say that Kamala Harris is not Black. She is biracial. She is Indian. She is Black.
You continue to repeat the fact that you continue to repeat the slur. I don’t understand why you and the president do it.
But it’s clear you’re not going to say that it’s wrong. And you’ve now established that for our audience.
