Rep. Byron Donalds, a Black Florida Republican tells CNN that the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) "disqualified" him from joining the organization based on his political affiliation.
The congressman got word of the CBC's plans to the block him from a Buzz Feed report. Since then he has been making media rounds decrying the alleged decision.
Donalds, is a freshman Republican and the only Black Republican in the House of Representatives. The Congressman has spoken to several news outlets airing out his disappointment in being ignored by the CBC. He has not received a suitable answer for not being able to join and presumes it is due to his conservative views which he says can be beneficial to the group.
"I have a perspective being a 42-year-old Black man who's come up in America after a lot of the battles through the civil rights movement that I think would actually be helpful and a helpful perspective to the CBC," Donalds said in an interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar on Friday. "Whether they want to take advantage of that is really up to them."
Like many Republicans, Donalds has questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results. Keilar pointed to his record of supporting Pres. Donald Trump and questioned whether the values he expresses align with the group's such as conflating Republican support for Blacks in Florida, falsely stating that Blacks have been given more access to the ballot box in Florida. When asked if he thinks his views are incongruent with the mission of the CBC. With a testy tone, he argued his support of Pres. Donald Trump is "irrelevant."
He said he has an interest in bringing a perspective to the organization as a black man from the inner city who was raised by a single mom and wants to contribute. Keiler said his statements did not bear out with the facts.
“The sad reality is although the Congressman and those in the CBC share the same race, the (R) behind his name disqualifies him from membership today,” Harrison Fields, a spokesperson, said in a statement.
It is not clear whether Rep. Donalds, actually applied for membership. The alleged claim does not appear to be based on an outright rejection, but is based on a supposition that diverse views are not welcome.
The CBC currently has nor Republican members. Utah Republican Mia love was a member of the CBC while in office. However, the lone Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, has never joined.