Byron Donalds spars with CNN anchor over past Trump comment on Harris' race: 'This is gaslighting'

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said that former President Trump would be focusing on the issues Americans care about and not his opponent's race, during a tense clash with CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ahead of the ABC News Presidential Debate.

Sanchez pressed Donalds on whether Trump would accuse Harris of using her race to advance her political career, after Trump previously questioned Harris' racial identity at the National Association of Black Journalists ("NABJ") conference in July.

"He essentially said that she‘s sort of used her Blackness to advance her career, saying that he didn‘t even know that she was Black because she didn‘t put it out there. I‘m paraphrasing his remark there. She said in response that she invited him to say that to her face. Do you think Donald Trump might do that tonight?" he asked Donalds.

"No, because this is an issue nobody even really cares about," Donalds replied. 

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"He mentioned it once. He hasn‘t mentioned it again. What Donald Trump is focused on is the American people," he continued, listing the economy, immigration and national security as key issues he would hone in on at the debate.

"Those are the things that he’s going to say to her face. He‘s not talking about her identity. Frankly, nobody is," he added. "She might try to bring it up, but that doesn‘t matter to the American people. It is one of the reasons why her support in this race might be broad, but it‘s an inch deep because she‘s not talking policy."

Sanchez told Donalds, "Respectfully, congressman, he was the one that brought it up initially, unprompted." 

Donalds retorted, "Boris, you‘re wrong about that, but okay."

The CNN anchor pressed his guest, asking, "Did he not bring up the issue of her race before anyone else did, suggesting she used it to her advantage?"

Donalds said ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott had actually brought up the claim at the journalism event.

"So Rachel Scott is the one that brought race and identity into that forum," Donalds replied.

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Scott did ask the initial question at the NABJ, asking Trump if he agreed with Republicans who viewed Harris as a "DEI hire." Scott was referring to Republican Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett telling CNN's Manu Raju the week before that he believed Harris to be a DEI hire after President Biden pledged to pick a female VP during his 2020 campaign.

"She was citing Republicans who brought that up," Sanchez said, arguing it was a fair question to ask Trump since he was also a Republican.

"Let's talk about this appropriately," Donalds scolded the CNN host. He argued the issue had been overblown by the media.

"There was one Republican who said it on Capitol Hill. Another Republican was asked about it," he continued, claiming Trump had not talked about Harris' race in the dozens of subsequent interviews he had done over the past 50 days.

"Is he talking about her identity? No he is not," Donalds said. 

The two continued to debate over whether one Republican or "several" Republicans had made this slur about Harris.

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Sanchez closed the tense interview with Donalds, accusing him of "gaslighting" his audience.

The NABJ conference in July was heated from the start, with Trump accusing ABC News’ Scott of asking a "nasty question" in her introduction in the Q&A.

Scott followed up by asking Trump if he agreed with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill who characterized Harris as a "DEI," or diversity, equity and inclusion, hire. 

"I've known her for a long time, indirectly, not directly… and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage," Trump said. "I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" 

Trump's response unleashed a wave of criticism from Black journalists, the Harris campaign and the White House. 

"How they identify, that is no one's right. It is someone's own decision," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "Only she [Harris] can speak to her experience. Only she can speak to what it's like. She's the only person that can do that. And I think it's insulting for anybody. It doesn't matter if it's a former leader, a former president. It is insulting."

Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this article.