Byron Donalds sees generational shift toward conservatism among Black voters

Byron Donalds interviewed by David Brody. Image via CBN News

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is telling CBN News that younger Black voters are more likely to be conservative because of what they’ve seen from the two political parties.

“Younger Black voters … look at their politics differently,” the Naples Republican told David Brody. “I think for Black voters over the age of 50, their politics to some degree was really shaped by the civil rights era. But in today’s America, their politics is much more shaped by economics.”

He then offered an illustration.

“You have Black people in Chicago who are, like, vehement supporters of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement because of illegal immigration, because they’ve seen what illegal immigration has done to their communities,” Donalds explained.

“And they’re saying, ‘I don’t want any part of that.’ Or it’s as simple as, you know, when Donald Trump was President the first time, people were doing very well economically. And then the Joe Biden administration came in.”

“They said they were going to do things better, but it didn’t work out that way, not even close,” Donalds added. “Things got a lot worse.”

With that in mind, he continued, younger voters “gauging the last two administrations” say they will “go with Trump.”

“The Democrats were complaining about everything. But in my life, day in, day out, things were better. And I think that’s why you saw that move. And I’ll tell you, I think that move is going to continue,” he added.

During the 2024 campaign, Donalds was instrumental to Black voter outreach in swing states while serving as a Trump surrogate. The current gubernatorial candidate contributed to a strategy that saw Trump confound many predictions and sweep the battlegrounds against a Democratic ticket that floundered in its attempt to connect.