FAIRBURN, Ga. — As Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas and Byron Donalds of Florida began the latest iteration of their “Congress, cognac and cigars” event aimed at bringing more Black men into the GOP fold here just outside Atlanta, the two Donald Trump allies set their intentions for the conversation.
“All we want is for you to hear us out,” Hunt said, maintaining that the audience members did not have to agree with everything they said and would have the opportunity to voice their own opinions.
Throughout the roughly two-hour conversation, moderated by former ESPN host Sage Steele, a conservative podcaster, at a cigar lounge filled with a diverse but predominantly Black audience, several Black men took them up on that opportunity.
Several repeatedly challenged Donalds and Hunt over their legislative track record, their stances on immigration and reparations, and their unwavering support for Trump. The dialogue at times got contentious, with several audience members accusing them at various times of repeating generic Republican talking points or deflecting issues of concern.
The event highlighted the challenges Trump’s Black allies may face trying to win over independent or traditionally Democratic voters in cities like Atlanta, some of whom remain skeptical of the Republican Party despite its efforts to more aggressively court voters of color.
The discussion began with Donalds and Hunt urging the audience to defect from the Democratic Party, arguing that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “don’t have the recipe for success in this country.”
But toward the second half of the event, the atmosphere grew contentious as Steele asked the room for the top issues they’d like to hear the congressmen address. Among them were immigration, national security and “morals.”
Jason R., a retired, college-educated Black husband and father who declined to provide his last name, shed light on what “morals” referred to.
“A local representative brought an amendment to the defense bill to reinstate a Confederate monument that has a depiction of a ‘mammy’ receiving a white baby from a Confederate soldier,” he began, “Of the four Black Republicans, three voted ‘yea’ on that.”
“It seems deceptive to come in here and talk about issues and then vote what seemingly isn’t based on principle,” Jason said.
Hunt responded by sharing an anecdote about several members of his family, including him, who attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Hunt said he saw value in residing in “Robert E. Lee barracks.”
“Only in America can you have three Black children matriculate through the premier leadership institution of the entire world and graduate from there and live in a barracks named after a Confederate general,” Hunt said. “If it were named anything differently, I wouldn’t have that perspective.”
Donalds was also called out for a controversial remark he made during the Philadelphia stop of the “Congress, cognac and cigars” tour, when he asserted the Black family was stronger during Jim Crow.
“You can talk about Black family, talk about the Black father, but when you intertwine Jim Crow into that, you’re going to drive people away,” Richard Wright said Wednesday.
Donalds maintained that his comments were misrepresented, saying he was referring to “empirical data” from the period suggesting higher marriage rates among Black Americans.
“Nobody wants Jim Crow to return,” Donalds said. “We were talking about Black families, and I was referencing an era.”
Donalds suggested the backlash he got over the remark was the result of the Biden campaign’s targeting him for being a vice presidential contender for Trump.
“We’re in the middle of a presidential election, let’s call it what it is, yes, I’m on the shortlist for the vice presidency,” Donalds said. “The reason why my comments were taken that way is because the Joe Biden campaign, which has no answer for what’s actually hurting Black Americans today, they wanted to take my words and twist my words to say I wanted Jim Crow to return. That’s crazy talk. I don’t want that.”
