GOP candidate calls for peace, denounces rioting: We must come together 'as one America'

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GOP congressional candidate shares powerful message of peace amid George Floyd unrest

Florida Republican congressional candidate Byron Donalds joins 'Fox & Friends' after sharing his call to stop the violence on social media.

Burning down small, black-owned businesses is not the way for Americans to get justice for the death of George Floyd, Florida Republican congressional candidate Byron Donalds asserted Tuesday.

In an interview on "Fox & Friends" with host Steve Doocy, Donalds explained that he posted a now-viral video to Twitter calling for peace because "it needed to be done" to try to help reunite the United States.

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"It needed to be done because, listen, like everybody else...I think that what happened to George Floyd was an absolute tragedy. And, he was murdered. And, justice needs to be done. And, justice will be done," he promised. "But, what we can't do, what we should never do, is riot in our streets and burn down businesses because if we truly want justice we have to come together as one America."

"We can't be divided. We can't target the very people who serve us in our communities and who protect us in our communities," Donalds added.

Donalds also told Doocy it was clear to him that radical groups were escalating violence during peaceful protests for their own political benefit.

There are reports about extremists from both sides escalating the conflict. An Antifa member in Washington, D.C. was recorded smashing pavement so rioters could have projectiles to hurl at police on Sunday, and on Monday a Twitter account that was pushing violence and claiming to belong to a national Antifa organization was linked to white nationalist group Identity Evropa.

"And we see it every night now. It's peaceful during the day. And as the sun goes down, they come in with rocks. They come in with bottles. They come in with gas. And they are amplifying the pain that is existing in America today. But they are amplifying it for their own political ends," Donalds stated.

"I was watching a news report last night before I went to bed about a pharmacy store in Van Nuys, California [which] was burned out and burglarized. Well, who does that truly hurt?" he asked. "It hurts the senior citizens in Van Nuys who simply want to wake up the next day and get their medication [t] going to help with their medical conditions."

"You know, when you burn down a black barbershop that's just reopening and just got a PPP loan, who does that hurt? That hurts that business owner who has worked hard for many years to scrape that together," he continued.

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"And so, we have to have some real sense and common sense come to our communities. What we cannot do is fall into the violence and hate that these radical groups want this country to descend into," Donalds concluded. "We have to stand up for what's right and what’s just here in America."