Topic #1: Trump's Black Conservative Federation Gala comments
Welker played a video clip of Trump talking about his indictments, and asked if he was "implying that he can win Black voters because they get indicted all the time, too." Donalds said "it's part of it," and said that Trump also mentioned issues - the border, the economy - that cause concern for Black voters.
But then when you layer on the fact that, yes, this is political persecution from the Department of Justice and from radical DAs throughout our country, this is something similar that Black people had to deal with – with the justice system themselves. And so their look – their look of it is real simple: "Well, dang, if the government's going after him with foolishness, he can't be that bad." Especially considering the fact that Joe Biden is terrible at his job.
Welker noted that grand juries brought the indictments against Trump and that there's "no evidence the indictments are political in nature," and asked for his thoughts on former Rep. Cedric Richmond's opinion that Trump's comments were "just plain racist."
Number one, Richmond's "trying to play politics and use racial politics," Donalds said. And number two, he continued (with my emphasis added)
like I said at the top, the number one reason why minority voters in our country want to support Donald Trump is because he did the job of president. He did a great job... Our country was secure. The economy was great. These are all things that Donald Trump talked about Friday night.
And yes, he also talked about the indictments.
What Americans don't want to see, especially Black Americans and anybody else, they don't want to see a politicized Justice Department. They don't want to see a two-tier system of justice. They want justice to be followed. They want Lady Justice to be blind. That's what the American people want. That's what Black voters want. That's what everybody wants.
Welker, who clearly can't help herself, came back again, asking if Donalds was "offended at all" by the comments.
No, I wasn't. Because I understood what the president was talking about. And like I said now for the third time, he talked about all the reasons why minority voters want to support him.
Topic #2: The Hur Report
Donalds segued into Biden not being indicted by Special Counsel Robert Hur as indicative of that two-tiered justice system.
You have to acknowledge the fact that now that the Robert Hur report has come out about Joe Biden's misuse of classified information, which is a violation of the Espionage Act, he had no rights to any of those documents when he was a senator or vice president, yet there are no charges... While President Trump is under prosecution. Come on now. You know that doesn't make any sense at all.
Then they talked over each other, and argued about what the report actually said (open to interpretation, it seems), and then he said
The Espionage Act is clear - you cannot possess those documents as a senator or vice president. You have no rights to those documents as a senator or a vice president. They must remain in a secure facility. Joe Biden took them from a SCIF. That's a violation of the Espionage Act, period.
Welker gave up arguing but before moving on, she said the Hur report said there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges.
Topic #3: IVF (and shouted questions)
Welker brought up Donalds saying he agreed with the Alabama ruling that embryos are children, and she wanted to know if he supported IVF as we know it here, which sometimes ends with donated or destroyed embryos.
Donalds said he does support IVF, he's got several friends who have been through it, and have beautiful and wonderful children, and said "I totally support the procedure." He also noted he responded to a question as he was "in the middle of a hallway," that he "heard the tail end" of the question, and that he wasn't aware of the Alabama decision when he answered.
By way of explaining his position - that he fully supports IVF - he said
Look, embryos are important to the production of life. We all come from embryos. That's what I said because I heard half her question. But do I support the IVF procedure? 100% I do. It should be made available. And I believe, as President Trump has also said, we really want the Alabama legislature to make sure that that procedure is protected for families who do struggle with having children. That helps them actually create great families, which is what our country desperately needs.
And so Welker, after hearing him state twice that he 100% supports IVF, how important it is, and how he supports legislation protecting it, asked this:
So just to be very clear, though, if you believe that embryos are children, do you think they should be treated as people with all the same legal rights as people?
He should have said, "Are the answers I've given you twice insufficient in some way?" Instead, he said she was "getting into a personhood argument" and that's where legislation - and how legislators put it together - would be critical. And he said - again -
The IVF procedure is very important to a lot of couples in our country. It should be protected. I agree with President Trump on that.
And so, 'to put a fine point on it,' as Welker likes to say, she asked if he'd support federal legislative protection for IVF. He said he'd need to see "the devil in the details," but
I feel I could broadly support that. Because, like I said, IVF is something that is so critical to a lot of couples. It helps them breed great families. Our country needs that.
Topic #4: Ukraine, the border, and government funding
Welker played a clip of a 2022 town hall where Donalds said we "needed to be engaged in Ukraine because, quote, "If you essentially allow the bully to bully, you're going to be drawn into a broader conflict you do not want to be a part of." She wondered what changed since he made those comments. It's really simple, he explained: Biden's failure to secure our country, which is "the first job of the federal government."
...many citizens are saying, "Why are we sending billions of dollars to protect Ukraine while our country remains open?" So my message has been clear. I agree with the Speaker. You want to talk Ukraine funding? Let's talk about it. But you've got to secure America first.
She suggested the House failed to do its job when it refused to take up the Senate border bill; Donalds said it was "a terrible bill," and reminded her that the Senate didn't even pass it. Welker then asked, "So can you really say... you have done everything possible for the border when you've opposed that deal?"
He pointed to H.R.2, the House bill, which is "the most robust border security package ever to pass a chamber of Congress.," again noting that the Senate did not pass its own bill. And, he said,
Joe Biden doesn't even need legislation to secure the country. He could do that right now. He can undo all of his executive orders that he put into place when he became president... That's what created the crisis that we have today.
Welker countered with this statement: "Congressman, as you know, executive orders often get tied up in the courts. That's what happened under former President Trump." Have any of Biden's EOs been challenged? If yes, she didn't mention it.
But let me ask you, big picture, because the government is careening toward another potential shutdown in just days. Are you willing to shut down the government over border security?
When he finally got her to listen to him, he said he is "willing to fund the government as long as our border is secure." Welker pressed him again, saying "and of course, the Biden administration's working on executive actions as we speak," and demanded a yes or no answer on whether he'd vote to shut down the government.
I will not be voting for any funding if the border is not secured. Anything I vote for has to secure our border. And the president should agree to that. That's common sense for a nation like America.
As I reviewed the video and the transcript of their conversation for this post, one question stuck in my mind: When did Kristen Welker start working for the Biden campaign?
See you around campus.
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