--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- [Music transitions to a gentle background]
--:-- John Bickley: After winning a congressional seat in 2020, Florida's Byron Donalds has rapidly risen up the ranks in the Republican Party and now finds himself at the center of vice presidential speculation. In this episode, we sit down with the Florida congressman in our Nashville studio to discuss the Trump veep stakes and why he thinks Trump's message appeals to all Americans, including minority voters.
--:-- [Sound effects: A door opens, and footsteps are heard]
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Sunday, June 9th. And this is an extra edition of Morning Wire. Joining us here in our studio in Nashville is Florida Congressman Byron Donalds. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- Byron Donalds: Of course.
--:-- John Bickley: So look, the latest report out of the AP is that you're one of the magnificent seven or eight being considered for VP. Would you accept that role if Trump asked you to step up and play it?
--:-- Byron Donalds: I would. I would accept.
--:-- Byron Donalds: You know, it's we're at a really interesting point in the country. I think that politics in general is shifting. Like people are shifting underneath the political parties. You could see that where the largest growing party is independents or non-affiliateds. Demographic groups, racial groups, everybody's shifting in their political thought. And I think that we're at this point in the country where, you know, common sense is the true desire, not political ideology. And I think it's a good thing for America.
--:-- Byron Donalds: I think secondarily, you know, being a member of the House and having been involved in the legislative process, I think, you know, what is an asset to the president is somebody who can make sure the wheels of Congress is moving to get the agenda done and to get the agenda across. And the third part is, I think in this environment especially, you got to be able to go campaign and help him get across the line. And so it'd be a great honor, but it's his decision. He'll decide what he wants to do and whatever his decision is, I'm going to support that. I just want to win. I'm a real simple dude. I just want to win, be successful. That's it.
--:-- John Bickley: Now you've risen up the ranks really rapidly, gained national attention in, what is it, four years, year four? This is year four in Congress, yeah. So what have you learned? What do you feel like are the lessons that you've learned so far that would help you on the national stage?
--:-- Byron Donalds: Lesson number one is when you know you're right about something, you cannot give any quarter to the media or to the left. You have to stand very firm and there's a point where you're standing alone and when you stand firm on what's right then people see that and then they will rally around you but it's a momentary hesitation they're going to watch to see what you do first and then that's going to set the tempo for everything else I think.
--:-- Byron Donalds: Secondarily in DC in particular it's not about the actual bill that gets to the floor. It's how you scaled the battleground and seeded the battleground for the bill that gets to the floor. Everything that you see happen in the news cycle really started two and three months ago, four months ago, six months ago in its infancy. And so it how you prepare for that political battle or that legislative battle is everything. The votes is really just the culmination and the outcome of all of the work that was done before.
--:-- Byron Donalds: I think the third, and I think in part I'm helping Republicans, not President Trump, he's fine, he doesn't need me. But I think helping Republicans understand is that you can go on CNN, you can go on MSNBC. You can do tough interviews. It's important actually to go and do those tough interviews because there are viewers who watch those channels. They're Americans. I totally believe they love the country, but they just have never heard a conservative view. I've never heard the Republican view on an issue. And going into those areas is really important for the country going forward.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, bursting bubbles in a sense, right? And actually about that, every four years we hear talk of minorities, potentially voting for Republicans. Often it doesn't happen. We've seen some major shifts with Hispanic voters, but black voters have continued to be sort of a firewall for Democrats. Do you see that changing recently?
--:-- Byron Donalds: Yeah, I do. I think it's because a couple of things. First of all, Joe Biden, I call him the master of disaster. Everything's gone wrong in his presidency. And so people know that they inherently know it. They instinctively know it. Are they quick to assign blame? That's the political question. And so I think that in this environment, if we do our jobs, they're going to correctly see that it is the Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC policy agenda that has failed America, is failing families all through our country and is failing us overseas on a global scale.
--:-- Byron Donalds: And so I think those voters now are taking a look at their economic prospects. Generational wealth is a big issue for minority people in our country anyway, because they want to be able to have something. They want to be able to build a net worth for their family, build a family business with their kids. And you cannot do that with the Biden agenda. It just does not work. You know, I think that you are going to see that. And immigration, I think, has been the touchstone that has had those thought processes change. Because every city is overwhelmed with illegal immigrants. And it is siphoning off some of the programs and stuff that was actually just going to American citizens. And that's being redirected. And people are looking at that saying, wait a minute, that's not fair. They're not even supposed to be here. And that's all because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the policies that they put into place.
--:-- John Bickley: A notable insight to say that there's a convergence of the immigration issue and the economic issue in terms of priorities for voters in a way that we've maybe never seen this starkly this year impacting people on every level, including inner city, including rural. Do you think in the end, the economics are going to decide this election or will it be a mishmash of some of the cultural issues?
--:-- Byron Donalds: I think overall, you know, the old adage is the economy, stupid. You know, I think that part is going to be the main driver. Obviously, the Democrats would love this to be a campaign about abortion or a campaign about race. But that's just not the number one or number two issue. And even if you look at some polling, it's not the economy that's the number one issue. It's immigration. Which I think obviously it bodes well for President Trump and bodes well for Republicans. And so, you know, I think that as long as we keep that the focus of what's happening in 2024, I think that's really going to be do well for Republicans up and down the ballot.
--:-- John Bickley: How do you feel about Trump messaging so far on the issues that matter most to voters? Do you think he hitting adequately those priorities?
--:-- Byron Donalds: Yeah he is. And I think you know of all his I guess what this is seven eight nine years in now I think Ben Shapiro calls it this is a season eight of Trump or whatever, however he refers to it. I think that the message and the message discipline has been the best. He's focused on all Americans. He's talking about not just blasting Joe Biden for how terrible he is, but also talking about what he did when he was president and what he'll do again being the 47th president. And I think that's important because voters remember the Trump presidency and now are living the Biden presidency. And in some respects, COVID kind of gave a mental reset of what America looked like with Donald Trump and what America looks like with Joe Biden. You had a real dichotomy that you can measure and look at very clearly. There's a clear line of difference. And so he has spoke directly to that. I think that has been the most effective messaging.
--:-- Byron Donalds: And I think what he's done is then layering the lawfare stuff on top of that. But the lawfare is not the message. It's the icing. The cake has been his economic policies, his handling of foreign issues, his domestic policies, and the deep contrast with Joe Biden and the Democrats. And I believe that message has been very effective. It's going to continue to be effective. It's going to bode incredibly well for him.
--:-- John Bickley: Speaking of lawfare, you went to Manhattan to show solidarity with Donald Trump on this issue. How do you think American voters are going to respond to this series of lawsuits and that conviction first ever for a former president and a leading presidential candidate? How are the American people going to respond to that?
--:-- Byron Donalds: I think they're already responding. I mean, you don't raise, you know, $70 million in low dollar contributions in two days. I believe Laura Trump was saying 30% of that are new donors, people who've never donated. You don't do that unless you just have a revolting taste in their mouth by the American people. People knowing stuff is not fair. People knowing stuff is not right. And what happened in lower Manhattan, it was a violation of Donald Trump's constitutional rights, period, point blank.
--:-- Byron Donalds: And so when people realize that they are just so fixated on getting their political rival. While still in Manhattan and in New York, there are crimes that are not being prosecuted by Alvin Bragg or being taken from felonies down to misdemeanors by Alvin Bragg. But then you want to take some misdemeanor with a statute of limitations as run, tie that in with some federal crime that you can't identify, that the FEC, which is the governing jurisdictional body, already said there is nothing here and you want to make that a felony? People know that stinks. They don't like it. And this is past politics.
--:-- Byron Donalds: I think whether you're a Democrat and independent or Republican, people have their opinions of Donald Trump. They have their opinions of Joe Biden, but they don't want to see sham kangaroo court elections in the United States, especially people who have immigrated to the United States over the past 50 years because they've seen this stuff happen in other countries. They don't want it here. So I think that it's completely backfired on them. And then we go from there. But I think standing with Donald Trump on this is the complete right decision. He is being victimized because he is Donald Trump and he's running for president. And that's disgusting. And I think the American people see that.
--:-- John Bickley: Now to turn to President Biden, there have been some pretty damning reports lately about his mental fitness. We had the Wall Street Journal citing over 40 officials from Capitol Hill who had major concerns about his mental capacity and how it's diminished. Have you heard similar rumblings and do you see this impacting the campaign?
--:-- Byron Donalds: Oh I heard the rumblings no doubt about it. In conversations with Speaker McCarthy Speaker Johnson I heard about the stories about how he doesn't do anything without a staff member being in the room. We all see the videos of how he's looking for directions from off camera. I mean, the other day when he did this immigration executive order and then at the end of it, he looks right. And then he's mouthing, do I take questions? And they're like, no. And then he's like, oh, OK. I mean, that's not the symbol of strength and leadership that America needs.
--:-- Byron Donalds: I've seen it. A lot of my colleagues have seen it during the State of the Union. Like he comes in and he's running at 100 miles an hour. And then once it hits the 30 minute mark, he starts slowing down. I think that's why you have some people saying like, well, are they giving him something to be able to get through these times where he has to be out there in front? I think the other thing is we've never seen an American president not be in control of the bully pulpit. Donald Trump had control of the bully pulpit. Barack Obama had control of it. George W. Bush had control of it. Bill Clinton had control of it. Joe Biden's nowhere to be seen. The only reason why people know he's president is because Corinne Jean-Pierre and Merrick Garland and Tony Blinken do all the talking.
--:-- Byron Donalds: You don't see him talking to the American people a lot unless things get into a crisis mode, which, you know, under his presidency happens every three to four months is always some new crisis. So I think there's a legitimate concern about his mental abilities today. And for people who want to naysay, I would say, take a look at the last two press conferences, or better yet, watch the debate that's going to happen on June 27th and compare that to the debates from 2020 and compare that to the vice presidential debate against Paul Ryan back in 2012. And you will see from 2012 to 2020 to 2024, this is a very different Joe Biden. It's not just about age.
--:-- John Bickley: Final question. What do you think is not being discussed enough on the national stage in terms of the presidential campaigns right now?
--:-- Byron Donalds: I probably would say the thing that's not being discussed enough, and that's because having a discussion typically flows through media sources, is the lack of trust people have in old media. I think that that's one of the reasons why you're seeing the shift in public polling. I think it's why, you know, if you watch, I watch MSNBC, I watch CNN, I watch Fox, like I watch them all. And this is why I think, you know, when they go through their polling breakdowns, they're not apoplectic yet, but they're like, oh, what's going on here? This doesn't look right. It's because, you know, I think they still yearn for the days of ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post.
--:-- Byron Donalds: And with what The Daily Wire has done with a lot of different outfits, what they're doing, the divergence in media and the divergence in thought process in media is leading to a divergence in political thought amongst the country. That's a very good thing, in my opinion. And I think that's the thing that's not been talked about enough. I think, you know, Elon buying X has been revolutionary in terms of thought actually getting out there for people to truly compare and have debates online or read other pieces of information, see other pieces of information. The ability for the United States to maintain true freedom of speech is monumental for this presidential election and every other election to follow.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, Congressman, thank you so much for talking with us.
--:-- Byron Donalds: Thank you.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Florida Republican Congressman Byron Donalds. And this has been an extra edition of Morning Wire.
