Walking the Trump tightrope (with Byron Donalds)

Dasha Burns (0:00)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:02)

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Byron Donalds (0:15)

Listen, again, I'm thankful for the president's support, but I'm allowed to have my own viewpoint on how about how we're going to govern Florida.

Dasha Burns (0:28)

Hello, hello, and welcome to The Conversation. I'm Dasha Burns, and every week on this show, I talk to some of the most compelling and sometimes unexpected power players in Washington and beyond. And this week, I am in Florida to speak to Representative Byron Donalds, the Republican running for governor here. Now look, Republican's grip on the Sunshine State is pretty clear. Trump won Florida in 2024 by 13 points over Kamala Harris. And Florida hasn't had a Democratic governor since 1999

And yet, Byron Donalds reportedly called his race a, quote, battle when speaking with donors. President Trump helped clear the field for Donalds, a longtime ally in the gubernatorial primary, before Donalds even jumped into the race. And a man who never stops fighting for the state of Florida, I know it.

Byron Donalds (1:17)

He is a fighter.

Dasha Burns (1:19)

Byron Donalds. Byron.

But Donalds recently scrubbed the president's name from his campaign website and left Trump's name out of his primary night victory speech.

Byron Donalds (1:29)

Tonight, the primary is over.

Tonight, we put aside our differences. Tonight, we are one united Republican Party.

Dasha Burns (1:41)

If he wins this race, Donalds will make history as Florida's first black governor. And given the significance of this state, that perch will probably give him a major influence over the future of the GOP. And thank you so much to all of you who have tuned into our midterm series so far. Because of your support, we get to cover this election from all angles, all across the country. So please subscribe to make sure you don't miss any of our midterm series. And now, here's my conversation with Byron Donalds.

Byron Donalds, thank you so much for joining The Conversation.

Byron Donalds (2:14)

It was good to be with you.

Dasha Burns (2:15)

We are here in Florida, the Sunshine State. Look, Republicans have had quite a hold on the state for a long time. But you know, the Wall Street Journal reported that you told donors that this race for governor is a, quote, battle. Is that an accurate description of the race?

Byron Donalds (2:31)

I treat every race like a battle. I think it's important for people to understand this is not the 2022 cycle when Governor DeSantis won by 19 points. It's not even a 24 cycle when President Trump won by 13 points.

Dasha Burns (2:41)

Why not?

Byron Donalds (2:42)

It's just a tighter environment. I think the people of our state want to know that there's a real plan and a strategy to lower costs, to make sure that children have the ability to achieve the Florida dream and to make sure government is accountable to everybody. I think the other piece of it is you now have a new top of the ticket.

I know Senator Moody, she ran as Attorney General, but now she's running for the US Senate. For the first time myself, I'm running for governor for the first time. And unlike President Trump and Governor DeSantis, who are known quantities in Florida, the people of Florida are still having to learn me. So we treat it like a battle every single day. We take nothing for granted, and we're going to keep working hard consistently until November 3rd.

Dasha Burns (3:19)

I mean, it's not just Democrats that are saying there are warning signs for Republicans here. Multiple Florida Republicans have told POLITICO on the record that they're worried. One county chair said, we are hemorrhaging. Do you think that's right?

Byron Donalds (3:31)

I think people are looking at the data and they're looking at some polling, and they're like, we can't remember the last time Florida was within five points. And so yeah, there was concerns there.

But again, I think what you're going to see over the next month or so until November 3rd, 27 days. 27 days.

Dasha Burns (3:47)

As we sit here.

Byron Donalds (3:48)

What you're going to see is voters are going to remember one thing above all else.

They chose Florida for a reason. A lot of people who now live in our state chose Florida over New York, over Illinois, over California. They wanted common sense. They wanted conservative policy. They wanted law and order. And I'm the candidate that's going to keep that going in the great state of Florida.