But the group has not provided an invitation to Donalds for the last six months and appears to be trying to block him from becoming a member based on his party and politics.
“Just because I have a disagreement on certain policy matters from the Congressional Black Caucus, that doesn't mean that I'm not black, that doesn't mean I don't care about black America. It means I have a difference of opinion,” the Florida Republican told the Washington Examiner in an interview.
Donalds has delivered to caucus leaders in the past but has not heard from any of its members since news broke the group was holding his membership. He demands to hear more next week when the House returns to regular session.
“I was in the Legislative Black Caucus when I was in the Florida Legislature,” Donalds said. “And I was pretty involved with the National Conference of Black state legislators. So for me, it was just a natural progression.”
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The freshman congressman is one of two black Republicans in the House. Utah Rep. Burgess Owens said before his election he did not intend to join the caucus. That is not uncommon; now-Sen. Tim Scott also refused to follow the group when he was in the House.
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Republican members of the caucus are rare and far between. Still, several former Republicans have been members, including former Utah Rep. Mia Love, who said she would try to destroy the caucus from the inside out, and former Florida Rep. Allen West, who went on to become chair of the Texas state Republican Party.
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BuzzFeed News, which first reported Donalds went without an appeal to the group for 6 months, cited some Democrats refusing to work with Republicans who voted against confirming the election results. Donalds was one of those Republicans.
Meanwhile, Donald was attacked during an interview about his membership status with a supercut of questionable comments from former President Donald Trump.
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“Do you think that your defense of a person who said things like that might be incongruent with the mission of the CBC?” asked CNN host Brianna Keilar, who is white.
Donalds responded the former president has nothing to do with the subject at hand.
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“I thought it was cheap, and I thought it was dumb,” Donalds said of the CNN tactic. “I didn't realize that my support of the president, somehow, you know, weakened my blackness.”
Donalds said his views on policies and politics have remained consistent pre-Trump, during Trump, and post-Trump.
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