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MS NOW host Symone Sanders Townsend suggested Tuesday that Florida Republican Byron Donalds wasn’t true “kinfolk” with other Black Americans after acknowledging his historic victory in the state’s race for governor.
Sanders Townsend questioned the political significance of Donalds’ victory, saying he would continue Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda.
“I will say, though, you know, as they say in my community, all kinfolk ain’t skinfolk,” Sanders Townsend said, although she appeared to mean it the other way around. “And what I say and what I mean by that is Byron Donalds is making history, but he is going to continue the political direction that Ron DeSantis is going to continue in Florida.”
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MS NOW host Symone Sanders Townsend acknowledged Byron Donalds’ historic election as Florida’s first Black governor but suggested he wasn’t true “kinfolk.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Tim Graham, Media Research Center director of media analysis and executive editor of NewsBusters, criticized the remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying Sanders Townsend was suggesting Black conservatives’ political beliefs conflicted with their racial identity.
“Symone Sanders is trying to argue that Blackness and conservatism are polar opposites, or that being a Black conservative is being a traitor to your race,” Graham said. “She suggests that Gov. Ron DeSantis has been anti-Black in his policies, and so Donalds is going to continue this allegedly anti-Black agenda.”
Graham compared the criticism to Democrats’ treatment of Clarence Thomas during his difficult 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, when Thomas described the proceedings as a “high-tech lynching.” Graham said the underlying message demanded political conformity from Black Americans.
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NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham told Fox News Digital that Sanders Townsend’s remarks suggested “Blackness and conservatism are polar opposites.” (Shannon Finney/NBC via Getty Images)
Sanders Townsend’s comments followed Donalds’ narrow victory over Democrat David Jolly in the state. He will succeed term-limited DeSantis in a rare bright spot for Republicans Tuesday, as Democrats swept into power across the rest of the country.
She explicitly acknowledged the significance of Donalds’ election before turning to his policies and comparing his agenda to the outgoing governor’s.
“It is a historic win. It is the first time Florida has elected a Black governor,” Sanders Townsend said. “And so he was on ‘The Breakfast Club’ this morning, was being asked about all kinds of policies and whatnot. And he, you know, sounded similar to Ron DeSantis.”
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Symone Sanders Townsend warned Florida Gov.-elect Byron Donalds would pursue the same agenda as current Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Donalds previously pushed back against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, after she criticized his marriage to a White woman in remarks that resurfaced in 2025. Speaking on “The Joe Pags Show,” he said his wife should be left out of their political dispute.
“Here’s what I’m going to say first and foremost: don’t talk about my wife. Keep my wife out of this. It ain’t got nothing to do with her,” Donalds said.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Donalds for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.