A CNN panelist attacked a prominent Florida Republican in a vicious on-air feud after he claimed crime has risen under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The shouting match between Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., took place during a discussion about Donald Trump and his policies.
CNN host Abby Phillips facilitated the talk about Trump, claiming at one rally, apparently during an unscripted moment, that he could solve shoplifting quickly if he let police have “one hard hour.”
The speech led many to suggest that what Trump is proposing is the plot of the film series The Purge.
“Does he mean that officers can do whatever they want for a day and that will actually solve the problem?” Phillips says in disbelief after playing Trump’s clip.
Byron then snaps back and says, “No, he’s not” and says that crime has gone up in the US.
The pressure before the explosion increased.
Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds (L) clashed with Democratic strategist Keith Boykin (R) over Donald Trump’s claim that crime has gotten worse under Biden and Harris
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“Even the clip you just played was five seconds away from an hour-long speech for Donald Trump. I think people often say, “Oh, he said this.” For five seconds? Yes, he says things that are not written. He’s coming out of the closet. He doesn’t mean it, there is no policy behind it,” Donalds said.
The Floridian continued: “Donald Trump said a comment for five seconds. That’s not policy, that’s exposing the fear of the American people.”
But the Democrat immediately pushed back.
“Donald Trump has a history of saying inflammatory things. It’s not just those five seconds, Congressman, and you know it,” Boykin said.
The strategist spoke about Trump’s role on January 6, arguing that he has a history of fiery rhetoric.
However, Donalds responded that Trump was the one targeted by the partisan discourse, noting that he was twice targeted by assassins.
‘Are we going to talk about the rhetoric against Donald Trump? Because we realize that there have been two attempts to kill him now,” Donalds said.
“The reality in America is that crime has increased dramatically,” the Republican insisted.
The two eventually began raising their voices at each other as the other panelists looked on
Boykin became enraged and shouted that Donalds is a liar.
“Crime hasn’t gone through the roof!”
‘That’s a lie! You lie! You’re lying!’ the Democrat loudly claimed.
The quarterback then turned his anger on Phillips for allowing himself to be challenged by Donalds.
Phillips was forced to intervene and prevent the feud between the two men from progressing further
“Abby, why do you let this man lie like that on national television? That’s not right. You are a liar, Congressman.” Boykins said.
Phillips then pacified both guests, regained control of the program and showed statistics from the Department of Justice showing that crime has decreased in key categories such as murder and rape.