A CNN panel went from tiresome to explosive when, on Monday, September 30, Trump ally Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fl) spoke about the former president’s comments on crime and the crime situation in general, with Donalds driving Democratic strategist Keith Boykin into the depths of anger, with Boyking shouting, at one point, that Rep. Donalds was lying about crime.
What initially got the panel going was a clip played in which the former president commented on policing and crime, saying “one rough hour” would be all that it takes to end shoplifting. Former President Trump said, “See, we have to let the police do their job. And if they have to be extraordinarily rough…And the police aren’t allowed to do their job. They’re told if you do anything, you’re going to lose your pension; you’re going to lose your family, your house, your car. What the hell is going on? They’re not allowed to do it, because the liberal left won’t let them do it. The liberal left wants to destroy them.” He continued, “One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out, and it will end immediately, end immediately. You know, it will end immediately.”
As might be expected, that series of comments absolutely set the left off, which accused Trump of calling for a “Purge” style end of rule of law so that criminals could be attacked. Pressing Rep. Donalds on what the former president met, CNN host Abby Phillip asked, “Is he suggesting that cops can do whatever they want for a day and that will actually solve the problem?”
Rep. Donalds, replying, insisted that the clip was just a few seconds out of a lengthy speech that was being used to attack him rather than be a fair representation of his thoughts and policies. He began by saying, “No, he’s not. Even the clip you just played was five seconds out of, for Donald Trump, an hour speech.”
Continuing, he said, “I think a lot of times people say, ‘Oh well, he said this.’ For five seconds? Yes, he says things that are unscripted. He goes off the cuff. He’s not serious, there’s no policy behind that.” Insisting on that point, he added, “Donald Trump said a comment for five seconds. That’s not setting policy, that’s revealing the angst of the American people.”
Responding to Rep. Donalds, Boykin snapped that the former president has, as he put it, a long history of pushing “inflammatory” views and comments in his speeches. He said, “Donald Trump has a history of saying inflammatory things. It’s not just those five seconds, congressman, and you know that.”
Continuing, Boykin said, “Even when I was working here at CNN, he was telling people how CNN is the enemy of the people. You know what? A guy named Cesar Sayoc sent pipe bombs to this building, or to the other building that CNN used to be in, and tried to kill people. Donald Trump says things that could get people hurt. When he talked about liberating Michigan, what happened? Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, they tried to kidnap her. There was a plot to try to kidnap her.”
He then added, “Every time he says something, it’s just five seconds, inflammatory statements like that. What happened when we had January 6? It’s because Donald Trump opens his big mouth and wouldn’t shut up, and I wish at some point, congressman, you would at least have the courage to stand up to your dear leader and tell him when he’s doing wrong.”
Rep. Donalds fired back, as he and Boykin started shouting at each other, “Are we going to talk about the rhetoric directed at Donald Trump? Because we do realize he’s been tried to kill twice now.” Rep. Donalds then claimed, “The reality in America is that crime is massively up,” leading Boykin to get even angrier and shouting, “Crime is not massively up! That’s a lie! You’re lying! You’re lying!” Watch them here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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