Byron Donalds claps back at Cori Bush after being called ‘a prop’ for House Republicans

Rep.-elect Byron Donalds slammed Democratic Rep.-elect Cori Bush for alleging his nomination to serve as House speaker was “pathetic.”

Mr. Donalds, a Black Florida Republican, said no one sought the Missouri Democrat’s opinion on the matter.

“Before you judge my agenda, let’s have a debate over the policies and the outcomes,” he said. “Until then, don’t be a crab in a barrel!”

Mrs. Bush started the fight when she took to social media to blast Mr. Donalds, who House Republican hard-liners claimed was a historic candidate for speaker.

“He is a prop. Despite being Black, he supports a policy agenda intent on upholding and perpetuating white supremacy,” Mrs. Bush said. “His name being in the mix is not progress — it’s pathetic.”

Mr. Donalds, who was just elected to his second term in the House of Representatives, has emerged as a stalking horse for conservatives opposed to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s ascension to speaker.

While Mr. Donalds’ nomination garnered the support of only 20 House Republicans, it was sufficient to block Mr. McCarthy’s elevation to the post.