Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) was met with a barrage of shouting Monday at a town hall meeting in Estero, Florida, where he defended a number of President Donald Trump’s agenda items, including the Department of Government Efficiency cuts to federal spending and elimination of diversity initiatives.
“Do you want to yell, or do you want to hear?” Donalds asked the crowd at one point.
Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Donalds, who was endorsed by Trump to replace term-limited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, defended the president’s agenda against a mixed crowd, with some present critical of and others applauding the administration’s initiatives.
At one point, the crowd interrupted Donalds’ defense of the Elon Musk-headed DOGE.
“I’m going to answer you … but are you going to allow me to answer the question?” Donalds said to a disgruntled crowd member. He then argued that the House Oversight Committee, which he is part of, must allow DOGE to “finish its work.”
Donalds praised the Trump administration’s efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, using his own success in banking as an example. He went on to say that the idea that Black children “can’t get ahead if it weren’t for DEI” is a lie.
“For the people who believe that it’s not a level playing field in life, guess what. There’s no level playing field in life. It’s called life. It doesn’t exist. Let’s be real about it,” Donalds said, as some crowd members clapped.
Donalds became increasingly frustrated when another town hall member asked if he had read “Caste,” a nonfiction book by author Isabel Wilkerson, who argues that America was built on a hierarchical social structure based on race.
“Don’t educate me about my life, sir,” Donalds said.
He added, “I like how everybody is shouting at me, the Black guy onstage with a microphone in his hand.”
According to NBC News, dozens of people left the town hall as Donalds spoke.
Towards the end of the event, he clashed with an audience member who shouted in protest of U.S. support for Israel, calling the woman “rude and disrespectful.”
“Ma’am, you are being disrespectful and I will respect you and I will honor the fact that you are here trying to get answers, but if you are going to hold this thing up and be disrespectful, then it’s time for you to be removed,” Donalds said.
The woman was escorted out, but chanted “Free Palestine” as she exited the room.
“You are not the only person who has a point of view in this room,” Donalds said, losing his patience. “And if you wanna yell, then I will respond in kind because you have to be respectful of people. You don’t get to take over the room. I’m sorry, but you don’t. You don’t get to take over the room.”