‘Keep my wife out of this’: Byron Donalds responds to Jasmine Crockett attack on his marriage

‘This is the racism that occurs in the Democrat Party. I’m sick of it, tired of the BS.’

Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds says a colleague of his in Congress crossed the line with a personal attack.

“Here’s what I’m going to say first and foremost: don’t talk about my wife. Keep my wife out of this. It ain’t got nothing to do with her,” the gubernatorial candidate said on the Joe Pags Show.

Donalds was responding to comments from June 2024 that U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas made about him and his wife, Erika Donalds.

“The fact that (you’re) sitting around talking about life was better under Jim Crow, like, is this because you don’t understand history or literally it’s because you married a White woman? And so you think that that whitewashed you?” Crockett said of Donalds, relating to comments he made about the Jim Crow era for Black families.

Crockett has been a lightning rod for criticism from the Right in recent weeks, and the excavation of old soundbites has been part of that strategy.

“I feel like they give him his talking points and he’s like, ‘Yes, massa, I got it,’” Crockett said during the same segment, as transcribed by Mediaite.

During Tuesday’s radio hit, Donalds questioned her authenticity.

“In my view, she’s acting or, you know, how we would say in the community, she’s putting on, she’s putting on a show,” Donalds said.

“The truth of the matter is that the reason why Jasmine’s out there doing all this is because she’s found newfound celebrity, I guess, on their side of the aisle. And so she’s leaning into it.”

He then argued that Crockett’s breezy talk about a mixed marriage “demonstrates … the racism in the Democrat Party.”

“They don’t have a problem when Kamala Harris is married to a White man or when Ketanji Brown Jackson is married to a White man, as long as they subscribe to the politics of the Democratic left. As long as you do that, everything is fine. But if you’re a conservative, but your spouse happens to be White or of another race, then all of a sudden it’s a problem. This is the racism that occurs in the Democrat Party. I’m sick of it, tired of the BS.”

Donalds accused Crockett of ducking debates and urged her to “find a show” and the two could exchange views and “sit there and do it.”

“We’ll have a good time along the way,” Donalds said. “And you’ll be defeated very quickly.”