Byron Donalds said he doesn’t regret Jim Crow comments while stumping for Trump at Max’s Steaks

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R., Fla.) came to Philadelphia again to seek support for former President Donald Trump from Black voters, this time on debate day.

Donalds made waves on Capitol Hill and across social media when he said during his last public visit to the city, in June, that “during Jim Crow, the Black family was together.” He said Tuesday that he doesn’t regret his comments.

“Who was actually upset was the political elites in Washington, in the Democrat Party, who are trying to find a reason to foment anger and emotions,” Donalds said outside of Max’s Steaks on Germantown Avenue in the Franklinville section of North Philadelphia. Donalds visited the popular cheesesteak spot as part of the Black Conservative Federation’s Black Voters for Trump bus tour through Philly.

The congressman went on to say he doesn’t regret any of his comments because he was “just speaking plainly.” He said the “real issue” at hand was the social service and aid programs for low-income Americans created by former President Lyndon b. Johnson and championed by fellow Democratic Party leaders. That civil rights-era policy shift “was one of the major, first things that started destroying Black families in America,” Donalds said.

“And anybody that would insinuate that I was thinking positively about the Jim Crow era is a liar,” he added. “… They want to sow dissension and division with people, as opposed to talking about the real issues.”

» READ MORE: This Trump VP candidate came to Philly and said Black families were stronger during the Jim Crow era. Now Rep. Byron Donalds is in trouble in D.C.

But Donalds was not in Philadelphia to talk about the past. He appeared in the city alongside Kwame Kilpatrick, a former Democratic mayor of Detroit whose 28-year sentence was commuted by Trump, to speak to Black voters, who they hope can help Trump win a larger share of the electorate in the biggest city in Pennsylvania. Trump has repeatedly said the battleground state is key to winning the election.

The conversation on Germantown Avenue touched on issues that voters have said are crucial, including the economy, safety, and international affairs.

One passerby, Sharita White, 38, praised the way Trump conducts himself. She said she doesn’t know much about politics but supports Trump because she was better off when he was in office.

“He was good to the Black people and I want him back in the chair,” White said. “… He may talk trash, but that’s what we need, somebody with a mouth. I really appreciate him.”

White said she lived near the border of Montgomery County during the Trump presidency but moved to Kensington after she lost her public benefits and could no longer afford it. Republicans have drawn upon Kensington’s narcotics crisis as part of their attacks on Democratic-leaning cities like Philadelphia.

The press wasn’t welcome inside Max’s Steaks when Donalds stopped in, but the lawmaker shared his order: cheesesteak with onions, provolone, and mayonnaise.

“I don’t do that whiz,” Donalds said.

“I’m New York City,” added the representative, who is originally from Brooklyn. “I do provolone.”

He also resisted the term prov wit.

“I’m a New Yorker,” he said. “Provolone. We say the whole thing”

Surrogates for Trump also visited the Original Garden of Bilal in Germantown and Philadelphia Hair Co. in East Germantown as part of the bus tour.