No, Byron Donalds Did Not Say Black Americans Had It Better Under Jim Crow

If you've read about Rep. Byron Donalds (R, Fla.) over the past week, you've likely been led to believe that he argued that life was better for black Americans during the Jim Crow-era of racial segregation.

That's how several outlets and Democrat politicians have framed his comments from the "Congress, Cognac, and Cigars" event in Philadelphia earlier this week.

"Trump VP Contender Suggests Jim Crow Era Was Better For Black Families Than Now," says a headline from Mediaite.

The Biden-Harris HQ X account ran with the same phrasing: "Trump VP contender Byron Donalds claims life was better for Black Americans "during Jim Crow."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, amplified the narrative on Wednesday with several posts:

"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. That's an outlandish, outrageous and out-of-pocket observation," Jeffries said.

"Rep. Byron Donalds made the ignorant observation that Black people were better off under Jim Crow."

Of course, Jemele Hill had something to add:

And Roland Martin:

However, like most stories during an election year, the depiction of Donald's comment does not match its reality.

Rep. Donalds did not say black Americans had better lives under Jim Crow laws. Here is what he actually said:

"During Jim Crow, the black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative – black people have always been conservative-minded – but more black people voted conservatively."

"[Democrats] are trying to say I said black people were doing better under Jim Crow. I never said that," Donalds said in a follow-up post. "They are lying."

"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," Donalds said. "I also said you're seeing a reinvigoration of Black families today in America, and that is a good thing."

Those damn facts. They keep getting in the way of a good narrative. 

The playbook here is hardly sophisticated. Democrats and their media allies seek to deter the momentum Republicans – particularly Trump – have with black voters, trying to convince them black Republicans are simply black faces for a white supremacist agenda. 

Or, as Twitter would say, "Stephen from Django." 

Rinse and repeat.

There's no group the Left enjoys tearing down more than black conservatives – see their treatment of Justice Clarence Thomas, Herschel Walker, Sage Steeler, and Candace Owens.

And, right now, no black conservative is a bigger threat to the Democrats than Rep. Donalds.

He is one of the leading black surrogates for Donald Trump. Donalds is also one of the eight potential vice presidential picks from whom Trump has requested financial and other documents. 

No wonder the Biden campaign doubled down on deceptively quoting him:

"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," Biden-Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

It's as if the video and truth could not matter less…