WASHINGTON – Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) joined the Keeping It Real podcast hosted by Jillian Michaels to discuss Chuck Schumer's government shutdown, Democrat gerrymandering, rising crime in sanctuary cities, and the disturbing rhetoric of the radical left.
Watch the full interview here.
"They [Democrats] realized they had no argument for wanting healthcare for illegals. So then they made it about the Obamacare subsidies":
"Look, I think with what's happening, the Democrats, their party has really been built around support for open borders and illegal immigration. Which is very interesting because as even far back as 2006, the Democrats were opposed to illegal immigration. Barack Obama was opposed to it when he was debating for the Democrat nomination. That's how radical and how far the party has gone in, you know, the last 20 years. And so a big chunk of what they are advocating for is yes, for us to restore the cuts that were made in medicaid. And I'm talking about the waste, fraud, and abuse because that's what we cut out of Medicaid. And they want us to restore the waste, fraud, and abuse so that blue states can basically game the system getting federal money to backfill their budgets so they can take state money to provide healthcare to illegal aliens. That's how it works... And so the Democrats are now basically in government shutdown mode for two reasons. Number one, Chuck Schumer is trying to demonstrate that he's tough enough to stand up to Donald Trump. That's not going to work, but that's what he's trying to do. And then number two is the fight for healthcare for illegal aliens. Let me make a third point - this whole thing about the Obamacare subsidies, the Obamacare Covid subsidies, the Democrats weren't even arguing for that before the government got shut down. They realized they had no argument for wanting healthcare for illegals. So then they made it about the Obamacare subsidies."
"I had an opportunity to talk to the mayor. The mayor testified under oath that crime is down in D.C. by 40% since the National Guard has been deployed":
"Let's unpack this. Bowser didn't really have a choice because D.C. is different from every other city in the country. D.C. is the federal enclave. So, if the president says, 'I'm deploying the National Guard,' there's really nothing she could do about it. So at that point, it's about working with the president. And so, what's happened in D.C. has actually been quite marvelous. In that clip you played earlier with Rashida Tlaib, that's the hearing that Muriel Bowser's in. So later I had an opportunity to talk to the mayor. The mayor testified under oath that crime is down in D.C. by 40% since the National Guard has been deployed. 40%! And it's not like the National Guard is making arrests. They're actually not doing that. What the National Guard is doing is that they're just deployed in various sections of D.C. And because they're deployed, they're a deterrent. And then the second thing is happening, it actually gives the metropolitan police department the ability to focus on high crime areas in Washington, D.C. So it's actually worked quite well. If you're a New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and these other cities, if I'm a mayor, I'm saying, 'Yeah, send them my way because it helps me keep my community safe.' I was in Chicago about six weeks ago or so. Chicago's down 2,000 police officers. 2,000. And when I was in Chicago, what the residents were telling me is that about half of the murders in the city of Chicago happened on 17 street corners. 17. So what that tells you is it's really drug and gang related crime and murder that's happening. So imagine if you had a thousand National Guard troops deployed in Chicago and it gave the Chicago Police Department, which are down 2,000 officers, an ability to really emphasize these areas where crime is rampant. The city of Chicago is more safe. But these reason these governors and these mayors are rejecting it is because they're trying to demonstrate that they're tough to stand up to Donald Trump. That's exactly what this is, and it's really sick because the people that they're supposed to serve, they're the ones who are less safe. They're the ones whose needs aren't truly being met and that's a significant problem."
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