{"id":2263403,"date":"2024-06-09T15:33:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-09T19:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hes-on-trumps-vp-short-list-an-interview-with-gop-rising-star-congressman-byron-donalds\/"},"modified":"2024-06-09T15:37:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-09T19:37:12","slug":"hes-on-trumps-vp-short-list-an-interview-with-gop-rising-star-congressman-byron-donalds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hes-on-trumps-vp-short-list-an-interview-with-gop-rising-star-congressman-byron-donalds\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with GOP Rising Star Byron Donalds, a Top Contender for Trump&#8217;s VP"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhes-on-trumps-vp-short-list-an-interview-with-gop-rising-star-congressman-byron-donalds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2263403&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Umbling about\u200d Russia,\u201d wrote\u2064 louisreeddesign.com.<\/p>\n<p>The article is a transcript of a conversation between John Bickley, the\u200b editor-in-chief of Daily Wire, and Florida Congressman Byron Donalds. They discuss topics such as Donalds&#8217; potential role as Vice President, his \u200drise in the\u2064 Republican Party, and his thoughts on Trump&#8217;s message attracting minority voters. \u2064Donalds also shares some lessons he has learned in his four years in Congress\u200b and the importance of messaging and the economy\u2063 in the upcoming\u2063 election. They \u2064also address the lawsuits \u200cand investigations targeting former President Trump and the concerns about President Biden&#8217;s \u2062mental fitness. Donalds believes that Biden&#8217;s mental capacity has diminished and that there is a legitimate concern about\u200b his abilities.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The following is an edited transcript of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/podcasts\/morning-wire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Morning Wire Sunday Extra<\/a> interview between Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley and Florida Congressman and potential Vice President candidate Byron Donalds.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After winning a congressional seat in 2020, Florida\u2019s Byron Donalds has rapidly risen up the ranks in the Republican Party \u2013 and now finds himself at the center of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marjorie-taylor-greene-denies-veepstakes-rivalry-with-kari-lake-not-my-opponent\/\" title=\"Marjorie Taylor Greene dismisses veepstakes competition with Kari Lake: 'She's not my rival'\">vice presidential speculation<\/a>. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We sat down with the Florida Congressman in our Nashville studio to discuss the Trump Veepstakes \u2013 and why he thinks Trump\u2019s message appeals to all Americans, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-people-near-biden-are-jumping-ship-before-the-red-november-wave\/\" title=\"Why People Near Biden Are Jumping Ship Before The Red November Wave\">including minority voters<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Congressman, thank you for joining us. So look, the latest report out of the AP is that you\u2019re one of the magnificent seven \u2013 or eight \u2013 being considered for VP. Would you accept that role if Trump asked you to step up and play it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  I would. I would accept. We\u2019re at a really interesting point in the country. I think politics in general is shifting, like people are shifting underneath the political parties. You can see where the largest growing party is among independents or non-affiliateds. Demographic groups, racial groups \u2014 everybody\u2019s shifting in their political thought. I think we\u2019re at this point in the country where common sense is the true desire, not political ideology. And I think it\u2019s a good thing for America. Secondarily, being a member of the House and having been involved in the legislative process. I think what is an asset to the president is somebody who can make sure the wheels of Congress are moving to get the agenda done and get the agenda across. The third part is, in this environment especially, you\u2019ve got to be able to go campaign and help him get across the line. It would be a great honor, but it\u2019s his decision. He\u2019ll decide what he wants to do. Whatever his decision is, I\u2019m going to support that. I just want to win. I\u2019m a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/byron-donalds-on-vp-buzz-im-a-real-simple-dude-i-just-want-to-win\/\" title=\"Byron Donalds on VP Speculation: \"I'm just a simple guy. I just want to win.\">real simple dude<\/a>. I just want to win, be successful. That\u2019s it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  You\u2019ve risen up the ranks really rapidly, gained national attention in a remarkably short number of years. Has it been just four years?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  This is year four in Congress, yes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  So what are the lessons that you\u2019ve learned so far that would help you on the national stage?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lesson number one is, when you know you\u2019re right about something, you cannot give any quarter to the media or to the Left. You have to stand very firm. And there\u2019s a point where you\u2019re standing alone. When you stand firm on what\u2019s right, then people see that and they will rally around you. But if there\u2019s a momentary hesitation, they\u2019re gonna watch to see what you do first. Then, that\u2019s gonna set the tempo for everything else. I think, secondarily, in D.C. in particular, it\u2019s not about the actual bill that gets to the floor, it\u2019s how you seeded the battleground for the bill. 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. So, how you prepare for that legislative battle is everything. The votes are really just the culmination and the outcome of all the work that was done before. Those are the two big ones I\u2019ve learned. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Third, I think in part I\u2019m helping Republicans. Not president Trump, he\u2019s fine, he doesn\u2019t need me. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I think helping Republicans understand that you can go on CNN, you can go on MSNBC, you can do tough interviews. It\u2019s important actually to go and do those tough interviews because there are viewers who watch those channels. They\u2019re Americans. I totally believe they love the country, but they just have never heard a conservative view or they have never heard the Republican view on an issue. Going into those areas is really important for the country going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Bursting bubbles in a sense. About that, every four years we hear talk of minorities potentially voting for Republicans. Often it doesn\u2019t happen. We have seen some major shifts with Hispanic voters. Black voters, though, have continued to be sort of a firewall for Democrats. Do you see that changing recently?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Yes, I do. It\u2019s because of a couple things. First of all, Joe Biden \u2014 I call him the \u201cMaster of Disaster.\u201d Everything\u2019s gone wrong in his presidency and people know it, they inherently know it, they instinctively know it. Are they quick to assign blame? That\u2019s the political question. So, I think that in this environment, if we do our jobs, they\u2019re going to correctly see that it is the Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, AOC policy agenda that has failed America. It is failing families all throughout our country, and is failing us overseas on a global scale. I think those voters are now taking a look at their economic prospects. Generational wealth is a big issue for minority voters, 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. And immigration has been the touchstone that has had those thought processes change, because every city is overwhelmed with illegal immigrants. It is siphoning off some of the programs that were actually just going to American citizens, and it\u2019s being redirected. And people are looking at that and saying, \u201dWait a minute. That\u2019s not fair. They\u2019re not even supposed to be here.\u201d And that\u2019s all because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the policies they put into place. So, I do think you\u2019re going to see that shifting and be accentuated in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/podcasts\/morning-wire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LISTEN: Catch the full interview with Congressman Byron Donalds on Morning Wire<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  It\u2019s a notable insight to say that there\u2019s a convergence of the immigration issue and the economic issue in terms of priorities for voters this year \u2013 in a way that we\u2019ve maybe never seen this starkly. And it\u2019s impacting people on every level, including inner city, rural areas. Do you think in the end economics are going to decide this election \u2013 or will it be a mishmash of some of the cultural issues?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  You know the old adage, \u201cIt\u2019s the economy, stupid.\u201d I think that part is going to be the main driver. Obviously, the Democrats would love this to be a campaign about abortion or about race. But that\u2019s just not the number one or number two issue \u2014 even if you look at some polling, it\u2019s not the economy that\u2019s the number one issue, it\u2019s immigration. Which I think obviously bodes well for President Trump and bodes well for Republicans. As long as we keep that as the focus of what\u2019s happening in 2024 it will do well for Republicans up and down the ballot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  How do you feel about Trump\u2019s messaging so far on the issues that matter most to voters? Do you think he\u2019s hitting those priorities adequately?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Yes, he is. I think that the message and the message discipline has been the best. He\u2019s focused on all Americans. He\u2019s 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\u2019ll do again being the 47th president. And I think that\u2019s important because voters remember the Trump presidency and are now living the Biden presidency. 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 have a real dichotomy that you can measure and look at very clearly. There are clear lines of difference and he has spoken directly to that. I think that has been the most effective messaging. What he\u2019s done is then layer the lawfare on top of that, but the lawfare is not the message. It\u2019s the icing. The cake has been his economic policies, his foreign policy, 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\u2019s going to continue to be effective. It\u2019s going to bode incredibly well for him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  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 recent conviction \u2014 the first ever for a former president and a leading presidential candidate?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  I think they were already responding. You don\u2019t raise $70 million in low dollar contributions in two days. Laura Trump was saying that 30% of that were new donors, people who\u2019ve never donated. You don\u2019t do that unless you have a revolting taste in your mouth. The American people know when stuff is not fair. People know when stuff is not right. And what happened in lower Manhattan was a violation of Donald Trump\u2019s constitutional rights. Period. Point blank. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, when people realize that they are just so fixated on getting their political rival, while in Manhattan and in New York there are crimes that are not being prosecuted by Alvin Bragg. Crimes are being taken from felonies down to misdemeanors by Alvin Bragg, but then you want to take some misdemeanor with a statute of limitations and then tie that in with some federal crime that you can\u2019t identify? One that he FEC (the governing jurisdictional body) already said there is nothing here? And you want to make that a felony? People know that stinks. They don\u2019t like it. And this is past politics. Whether you\u2019re a Democrat, an Independent, a Republican, people have their opinions of Donald Trump. They have their opinions of Joe Biden. But they don\u2019t 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 \u2014 because they\u2019ve seen this stuff happen in other countries. They don\u2019t want it here. So I think it\u2019s completely backfired on them. Standing with Donald Trump on this was the complete right decision. He is being victimized because he\u2019s Donald Trump and he\u2019s running for president and that\u2019s disgusting. I think the American people see that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There\u2019ve been some pretty damning reports lately about President Biden\u2019s mental fitness. The Wall Street Journal, citing over 40 officials from Capitol Hill, has reported on major concerns about his mental capacity and how it\u2019s diminished. Have you heard similar rumblings \u2013 and do you see this impacting the campaign?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Oh, I\u2019ve heard the rumblings, no doubt about it, in conversations with Speaker McCarthy, Speaker Johnson. I heard the stories about how he doesn\u2019t do anything without a staff member being in the room. We all see the videos of how he\u2019s looking for directions from off camera. The other day, when he did this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-biden-to-unveil-immigration-agenda-next-tuesday\/\" title=\"Psaki: Biden to unveil immigration agenda next Tuesday\">immigration executive order<\/a>, and then at the end of it he looks right and he\u2019s mouthing, \u201cDo I take questions?\u201d And they\u2019re like, \u201cNo.\u201d And then he says, \u201cOh, okay.\u201d That\u2019s not the symbol of strength and leadership that America needs. I\u2019ve seen it. A lot of my colleagues have seen it. During the State of the Union he comes in and he\u2019s running that talk at about 100 miles an hour. Then, once it hits the 30 minute mark, he starts slowing down. I think that\u2019s why you have some people asking if they are giving him something to be able to get through these times where he has to be out there in front? The other thing is, we\u2019ve 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\u2019s nowhere to be seen. The only reason why people know he\u2019s president is because Karine Jean-Pierre and Merrick Garland and Tony Blinken do all the talking. You don\u2019t see him talking to the American people a lot unless things get into a crisis mode, which, under his presidency happens every three to four months. There is always some new crisis. I think there\u2019s a legitimate concern about his mental abilities today. Take a look at the last two press conferences. Better yet, watch the debate that\u2019s going to happen on June 27th and compare that to the debates from 2020. Then compare that to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/campaign-2024-an-early-look-at-the-possible-republican-contenders\/\" title=\"Campaign 2024: An Early Look At The Possible Republican Contenders\">vice presidential debate<\/a> against Paul Ryan back in 2012. You will see from 2012 to 2020 to 2024 this is a very different Joe Biden. It\u2019s not just about age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Final question. What do you think is not being discussed enough on the national stage in terms of the presidential campaigns right now?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The thing that\u2019s not being discussed enough \u2014 and that\u2019s because having a discussion typically flows through media sources \u2014 is the lack of trust people have in old media. That\u2019s one of the reasons why you\u2019re seeing the shift in public polling. I watch MSNBC, I watch CNN, I watch Fox, I watch them all. And when they go through their polling breakdowns, they\u2019re not apoplectic yet, but they\u2019re like, \u201cUh oh, what\u2019s going on here? This doesn\u2019t look right.\u201d It\u2019s because I think they still yearn for the days of ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Now, what the Daily Wire has done along with a lot of different outfits, the divergence in media and the divergence in thought process in media is leading to a divergence in political thought amongst the country. That\u2019s a very good thing in my opinion. That\u2019s the thing that\u2019s not been talked about enough. Like Elon buying X. It 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. The ability for the United States to maintain true freedom of speech is monumental for this presidential election and every other election to follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>JOHN:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Congressman, thank you so much for talking with us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>BYRON:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This edited transcript features a Morning Wire Sunday Extra interview with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley and Congressman Byron Donalds. Since his 2020 congressional win, Donalds has quickly ascended within the Republican Party, now potentially eyeing the Vice Presidency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":2263404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2038748797.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2038748797.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2263404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2263403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2263403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}