Byron Donalds defends Trump's claims that black voters like him because they face indictments and 'political persecution'

The former president spoke at the Black Conservative Federation Honors Gala in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday night and addressed a crowd of black voters. 

'I got indicted a second time, and a third time and a fourth time! And a lot of people said that that's why the black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against,' Trump said.

'And they actually viewed me as– I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing.' 

In response to trump's claims, Donalds, who is black, said in a Sunday interview on NBC's  Meet the Press, that what Trump said was correct. 

'When you layer on the fact that, yes, this is political prosecution from the Department of Justice and from radial DA's throughout our country, this is something similar that black people have to deal with, with the justice system themselves,' Donalds said. 

Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds defended Donald Trump's claims that black voters, as the former president said that he and black voters 'have been hurt so badly and discriminated against'

The former president spoke at the Black Conservative Federation Honors Gala in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday night where he addressed a crowd of black voters

The Florida Represenative who endorsed Trump's 2024 White House bid, then mentioned the country's economy 'is a mess' and that 'our border is completely unsecured.' 

'These things are causes of major concerns for black voters like it is for every voter in our country,' the 44-year-old added. 

Welker then interrupted Donalds and said: 'Congressman, let's just be clear. All four indictments against former President Trump were brought by grand juries. There is no evidence that the indictments are political in nature.' 

Cedric Richmond, a co-chair for President Joe Biden's campaign also found Trump's comments appalling. 

'Donald Trump claiming that black Americans will support him because of his criminal charges is insulting. It's moronic and it's just plain racist,' Richmond said in a statement on Saturday. 

When asked what he thought of the Richmond's response, Donalds said that Biden's co-chair is 'just trying to play politics' and 'play racial politics.' 

'The number one reason why minority voters in our country want to support Donald Trump is because he did the job of president, he did a great job as president. Our country was secure, the economy was great-- these are all things that Donald trump talked about Friday night,' Donalds said in the interview. 

During his Friday speech, Trump also complained he got indicted for 'nothing' -claiming that's something black voters understand because they see 'what's happening to me happens to them.'

'When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is No. 1. You know who embraced it more than anyone else?' Trump asked the crowd. 'The black population.' 

'Does that make sense?' Trump asked.

The Florida Congressman has been rumored as a potential Vice President for Trump if he wins the 2024 election 

He earned cheers and applause from the crowd.

'It's been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there's something there,' the former president added. 

At the event Trump also quipped, 'These lights are so bright in my eyes that I can't see too many people out there. But I can only see the black ones. I can't see any white ones.'

'You see that's how far I've come. That's how far I've come,' he added. 

The Biden campaign took issue not specifically with these comments, but with Trump's decision to address the predominantly black crowd at all.

'The audacity of Trump to speak to a room full of Black voters during Black History Month as if he isn't the proud poster boy for modern racism,' the Biden campaign's Black Media Director Jasmine Harris said in a statement Saturday.

Donalds has been rumored as a potential Vice President for Trump is he wins the 2024 presidential election. 

In October, the congressman took to X (formally Twitter) and announced that he was running to become the first African American speaker of the House.

'I look forward to securing the votes of a majority of my Republican colleagues to become the first African-American Speaker, the first Speaker from the great state of Florida and the next Speaker of the 118th Congress,' he said.

Trump's mugshot from Fulton County, Georgia. He said the 'black population' embraced it more than any other group

When he announced that he was running to be a speaker of the house, Donalds said his 'sole focus' will be to secure the border and to fund the government 'responsibly' 

'My sole focus will be securing our border, funding our government responsibly, advancing a conservative vision for the House of Representative and the American people and expanding our Republican majority.'

'As a member of this conference, I’ve seen firsthand the devotion of my colleagues to improving the lives of their constituents and the future of America.'

'We come from different walks of life but share the common pursuit of a more perfect union,' he added in his candidacy announcement.

Biden won about 90 percent of the black vote in 2020.

While high, that's a decrease from the support black voters gave to Hillary Clinton, Trump's rival in 2016, which was at 93 percent.

President Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, received 97 percent of the vote during his reelection bid in 2012.