Congressmen have unusual debate in front of reporters on Capitol steps: ‘Biden will wipe floor with DeSantis!'

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Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., engaged in a heated but ultimately friendly debate in front of reporters on the steps of the Capitol Wednesday.

The two lawmakers traded blows on who has got the better chance of winning the presidential election in 2024. Donalds fiercely backed former President Donald Trump or Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for the office, while Bowman insisted that President Biden would easily beat either to reclaim the White House.

Highlights from the impromptu debate included a moment where Bowman insisted that DeSantis was a "White supremacist," a notion Donalds outright denied. Donalds also provided a deft, NFL-related one-liner, saying the idea that Biden could beat either GOP frontrunner was like "saying Josh Allen is better than Patrick Mahomes."

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Bowman also made the claim that if Biden didn’t run, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., "would kill both" Trump and DeSantis in 2024.

The hearty debate began as the two men stood outside the Capitol building speaking to reporters. Donalds turned to Bowman and provided the opening salvo: "To the gentleman from New York, man, listen, it’s cool to have two people in my state that could be president. I don’t know about New York."

Bowman laughed at the provocative line, but immediately shot back, "Who in your state could be president? Who? DeSantis?! DeSantis doesn’t have a shot. He’s a white nationalist."

Donalds wasn’t buying the talking point, replying, "No, he’s not." As the Republican shook his head disapprovingly, Bowman continued: "He’s a nationalist. He’s a white supremacist. He’s anti-gay, he’s anti-woman, he’s anti-Black. There’s no way he can be president."

Donalds countered with the claim that he "called" Democrats and Republicans about DeSantis’ so-called white nationalism last year and they admitted it was political noise. He said, "I called them. I said, ‘tell me what’s happening.’ They were like, ‘It’s really not that but people are trying to raise a fuss.’" 

"It’s not true," the GOP lawmaker added.

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Later in the debate, Bowman asked Donalds who the other Florida candidate for president was. Donalds replied, "Oh come on now, you already know that’s Trump and Ron." The Democrat acted surprise that Trump was hailing from Florida now. He asked, "So Trump claims Florida now, he don’t claim New York?" 

Patiently, Donalds replied, "He been claiming Florida." "Wow!" Bowman exclaimed. He then declared, "Both those dudes going to get crushed."

Amused, the pro-Trump lawmaker asked, "By who? The man at 1600? Oh, please." 

Bowman then floated the idea of Whitmer beating the Republicans in 2024. He argued, "If she wanted to jump in, she would kill both of them." Back to Biden, he said, "Secondly Biden will kill both of them. Biden passed three bipartisan pieces of legislation."

Interrupting him, Donalds quipped, "You know what that’s like? That’s like saying Josh Allen is better than Patrick Mahomes. Come on now! Tell that to somebody else."

Bowman pressed on, saying, "Biden passed three bipartisan pieces of legislation after an insurrection, during a global pandemic; opened back up the schools – killing the game! And he’s 80-something years old!"

He also said, "Biden will wipe the floor with DeSantis!" 

"In what world?" Donalds shot back. "In what world? Bizarro land?" As Bowman tried to list off more Biden accomplishments like the CHIPs Act and "historic investments in climate," Donalds mentioned Biden failures, saying, "High inflation, overrun southern border, fentanyl on everybody’s streets. Look, I could do the same thing."

Though one of the lawmakers’ colleagues playfully came up and interrupted the debate, giving both a hug and calling them "handsome Black men." All three ended up laughing about the exchange.