EXCLUSIVE: Erika Donalds Backs Trump Move To Reopen American Universities To Chinese Students
'They have way more information than I do'
Republican turncoat announces Democrat bid for Florida governor’s seat
On Thursday, a former Republican turned Democrat in Florida announced his gubernatorial run for 2026. David Jolly, who represented the Tampa Bay area in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2014 to 2017, is looking to take term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis’ position in the heavily red state of Florida.
Asked about his turn to the Democratic Party in an interview with CBS Miami, Jolly explained that he was an independent until only recently. “I bring a different value set. Even when I was in Congress as a Republican, I supported marriage equality, gun control, climate science, campaign finance reform.”
“I struggled to exercise those values in the Republican Party,” Jolly reportedly said. “The actual registration as a Democrat wasn’t a pivot. It was a kind of formality.”
RELATED: DeSantis reacts to Byron Donalds officially entering governor’s race
Jolly believes that the Democratic Party is the right “vessel” to help him build a coalition in the state of Florida to address his top issue: the "affordability crisis." According to Fox News, Jolly said in a statement, "We have an affordability crisis in Florida driven by an insurance crisis that continues to worsen in the face of complete neglect by Tallahassee. We have abandoned public education, and we’ve allowed corruption to run rampant. It’s time for a change."
Jolly’s challenge to the Republican stronghold and President Donald Trump's home state comes at an uncertain time for the Democratic Party. It has been reported that there are between 1.2 million and 1.3 million more registered Republicans than Democrats in Florida.
As it stands, the Democratic primary is open, with many other potential candidates expressing wariness about the chances of turning the state blue. Trump-endorsed Florida Congressman Byron Donalds currently leads the Republican side. Rumors suggest former Representative Matt Gaetz and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis may also throw their hats in the ring.
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Trump keeps endorsing the establishment he vowed to fight
Donald Trump’s endorsement of Karrin Taylor Robson in December marked one of the most baffling moves of his political career. Still riding the momentum of his victory, Trump pre-emptively backed a known RINO for Arizona governor — nearly 19 months ahead of the 2026 primary. The endorsement fit a troubling pattern: early-cycle support for anti-Trump Republicans who hadn’t lifted a finger for the movement, while stronger MAGA candidates waited in the wings.
If Trump wants to deliver on his campaign promises, he needs to reassert deterrence against weak-kneed incumbents and withhold endorsements in open races until candidates prove themselves.
At some point, conservatives must face the hard truth: The swamp isn’t being drained. It’s getting refilled — with Trump’s help.
Arizona illustrates why MAGA must push back hard on Trump’s errant picks. Robson, a classic McCain Republican, publicly criticized Trump as recently as 2022. She ran directly against MAGA favorite Kari Lake in the 2022 gubernatorial primary. Maybe she could merit a reluctant nod in a general election, but nearly two years before the primary? With far better options available?
And indeed, better options emerged. Months later, Rep. Andy Biggs — one of the most conservative voices in Congress and a staunch Trump ally — entered the race. The Arizona drama had a partially satisfying resolution when Trump issued a dual endorsement. But dig deeper, and the story turns sour.
Top Trump political aides reportedly worked for Robson’s campaign, raising serious questions for the MAGA base. Their loyalty seemed to shift only after Robson refused to tout Trump’s endorsement in her campaign ads.
Which brings us to the million-dollar question: Why would Trump endorse candidates so subversive that they feel embarrassed to even mention his support?
The Robson episode is an outlier in one way: Most establishment Republicans eagerly shout Trump’s endorsement from the rooftops. Yet the deeper issue remains. Without MAGA intervention, Trump keeps handing out endorsements to RINOs or to early candidates tied to his political network — often at the expense of better, more loyal alternatives.
A pattern of bad picks
Some defenders claim Trump backs incumbents to push his agenda. That theory falls apart when so many of those same RINOs openly sabotage it.
Take Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.). Both received Trump’s endorsement while actively working against his legislative priorities — pushing green energy subsidies and obsessing over tax breaks for their donor class. These aren’t minor policy differences. These are full-spectrum RINO betrayals.
Trump wouldn’t dare endorse Chip Roy (R-Texas) for dissenting from the right, so why give cover to Republicans who consistently undermine his mandate from the left?
And don’t chalk this up to political necessity in purple districts. Trump routinely gives away the farm in safe red states, too.
Here's a list of Trump’s Senate endorsements this cycle, straight from Ballotpedia — and it’s not comforting.
You’d struggle to find a single conservative in this bunch. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, and Jim Risch of Idaho all represent the globalist mindset that Trump’s base has spent years fighting. So why did Trump hand them early endorsements — before they even faced a challenge? What exactly is he getting in return?
Well, we know what his loyalty bought last cycle.
After Trump endorsed Mississippi’s other swamp creature, Roger Wicker, against a MAGA primary challenger in 2024, Wicker walked into the chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee — and now he’s stalling cuts to USAID. That roadblock has helped keep the DOGE rescissions package from reaching the president’s desk.
Wicker isn’t the only one. Several of Trump’s endorsees have publicly criticized his tariff agenda. Whether or not you agree with those tariffs, the pattern is telling. Trump only seems to call out Republicans who dissent from the right. Meanwhile, the ones who oppose him from the left collect endorsements that wipe out any hope of a MAGA primary.
Ten years into the MAGA movement, grassroots candidates still can’t gain traction — and Trump’s endorsements are a big part of the problem.
Instead of amplifying insurgent conservatives, Trump often plays air support for entrenched incumbents. He clears the field early, blasting apart any challenge before it forms. That’s how we ended up stuck with senators like Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) — both from red states — who routinely block Trump’s nominees and undermine his priorities.
Trump endorsed both Tillis and Cassidy during the 2020 cycle, even as grassroots conservatives geared up to take them on. In fact, almost every red-state RINO in the Senate has received a Trump primary endorsement — some of them twice in just 10 years. That list includes Moore Capito, Graham, Hyde-Smith, and Wicker.
Saving red-state RINOs
What’s worse than endorsing RINOs for Congress in red states? Endorsing RINOs for governor and state legislature.
Yes, Washington is broken. Even in the best years, Republicans struggle to muster anything more than a narrow RINO majority. But the real opportunity lies elsewhere. More than 20 states already lean Republican enough to build permanent conservative power — if we nominate actual conservatives who know how to use it.
The 2026 election cycle will feature governorships in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming, to name just a few. These races offer a chance to reset the Republican Party — state by state — with DeSantis-caliber fighters.
Instead, we’re slipping backward.
RELATED: Reconciliation or capitulation: Trump’s final go-for-broke play
Trump has already endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor — nearly two years before the election. In most red states, Donalds would look like an upgrade. But Florida isn’t most red states. Florida is the citadel of conservatism. It deserves a contested primary, not a coronation. Donalds hasn’t led the way DeSantis has — either nationally or in-state — so why clear the field this early? Why not at least wait and see whether DeSantis backs a candidate?
And don’t forget about the state legislatures.
Freedom Caucuses have made real gains in turning GOP supermajorities into something that matters. But in Texas, House Speaker Dustin Burrows cut a deal with Democrats to grab power — then torched the entire session. Conservative voters are eager to remove Burrows and the cronies who enabled him.
We’ll never drain the swamp this way
This is where Trump should be getting involved — endorsing against the establishment, not propping it up.
Instead, he’s doing the opposite.
Trump recently pledged to back Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and his entire entourage of RINO loyalists — just because they passed a watered-down school choice bill that also funneled another $10 billion into the state’s broken public-school bureaucracy.
The same pattern holds in Florida.
The House speaker there, Daniel Perez, has consistently blocked Governor Ron DeSantis’ agenda, including efforts to strengthen immigration enforcement — policies that are now a national model. Despite this, Perez cozied up to Byron Donalds. Donalds returned the favor, but refused to take sides in the Perez versus DeSantis clashes. He also ducked the fights against Amendments 3 and 4. So what exactly qualifies Donalds to become Trump’s handpicked candidate in the most important red state in America?
This new paradigm — where candidates secure Trump endorsements just by parroting his name — has allowed RINO governors and legislators to push corporatist policies while staying firmly in Trump’s good graces. They wrap themselves in the MAGA brand without lifting a finger to advance its agenda.
That’s not the movement we were promised.
At some point, conservatives must face the hard truth: The swamp isn’t being drained. It’s getting refilled — with Trump’s help. We can’t keep celebrating Trump’s total control of the GOP while hand-waving away the RINOs, as if they’re some separate, unaccountable force. Trump has the power to shape the party. He could use it to clean house.
Instead, he keeps using it to protect the establishment from grassroots primaries.
At the very least, he should withhold endorsements until candidates prove they can deliver on the campaign’s promises. Don’t hand out golden Trump cards before they’ve earned them.
Mr. President, please don’t be such a cheap date.
Byron Donalds pays ‘body man’ with a rap sheet using campaign cash
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) has used campaign funds to funnel large payments to his longtime associate and close friend Larry Wilcoxson — a man with a lengthy history of criminal convictions and allegations. Media reports have called Wilcoxson Donalds’ “right-hand man,” while the congressman, who announced his candidacy for governor of Florida in February, has referred to him as his personal “body man.”
Wilcoxson doesn’t appear on Donalds’ official staff roster, yet he and his company, Wilcoxson Consulting, received $133,450 from Donalds’ campaign across more than 160 disbursements between July 7, 2020, and March 24 of this year. The latest Federal Election Commission reporting shows that more than $86,000 of that total came after May 2024, signaling a possible expansion of Wilcoxson’s role with Donalds.
Propping up a 'right-hand man' with Wilcoxson’s rap sheet speaks volumes about the judgment of the man signing the checks.
The payments break down as follows:
- Payroll: $75,250 (56.4%)
- Payroll taxes: $18,750 (14%)
- Consulting services: $22,500 (16.8%)
- Travel reimbursements: $8,450 (6.3%)
- Office supplies: $3,200 (2.4%)
- Event expenses: $2,800 (2.1%)
- Miscellaneous reimbursements: $1,500 (1.1%)
- Other (unspecified): $1,000 (0.7%)
Wilcoxson’s criminal history, both alleged and confirmed, appears extensively in court records and media coverage.
One of the most serious accusations involves a 2006 child molestation case. According to an April 2023 report by the Florida Trident, police accused Wilcoxson of molesting a 13-year-old girl while he worked as a substitute teacher at an Indianapolis middle school. Though prosecutors later dismissed the charge, the Trident noted that “a look at the public record shows there are many questions still unanswered about the case.”
The Indianapolis Star reported that school officials fired Wilcoxson after he allegedly exposed himself to a female custodian. Federal court records show multiple accusers. When asked whether they were all lying, Wilcoxson dodged the question.
He didn’t hesitate to play the race card, though.
“In my America, in your America, only a black man will be guilty and will always be guilty,” he said when pressed about multiple accusations. Wilcoxson refused to answer questions about the child molestation case but admitted to videotaping his sexual encounters, called himself a “pimp,” and confessed to threatening a police officer’s family.
A 2008 federal lawsuit filed in Indianapolis, settled out of court in 2009, alleged that Wilcoxson molested a student — identified as “T.T.” — while working as a substitute teacher at Henry W. Longfellow Middle School. The girl’s mother, Valerie Davis, reported the alleged abuse. According to the lawsuit, the school district and Indianapolis police conducted a “superficial and flawed” investigation.
The complaint also claimed authorities treated the girl “hostilely,” even threatening her with arrest for filing a report.
A lifetime of trouble
Court records unearthed by the Florida Trident show that Wilcoxson’s rap sheet goes back to his teenage years. In Collier County, Florida, he faced charges including armed robbery at 14, aggravated battery, misdemeanor battery, and grand theft auto. While a student at Florida State University studying — ironically — criminology, he racked up more charges between 1997 and 2000. He took plea deals for forgery and credit card fraud, beat a petty theft charge at trial, and got a criminal mischief charge dropped.
In 2015, a court sentenced Wilcoxson to six months in jail for grand theft auto, but the conviction was later vacated. Combined with a judge’s decision to withhold adjudication on earlier charges, Wilcoxson’s record, on paper at least, shows no standing convictions — a technical clean slate that masks a long and troubling history.
In March 2022, Melissa Kamin — Wilcoxson’s former fiancée — filed for a protective order, alleging he physically assaulted her in their Marco Island home by lifting her onto a kitchen counter and restraining her. She also claimed Wilcoxson later tracked her to Lauderhill, broke into her car, and tossed her belongings.
RELATED: DeSantis reacts to Byron Donalds officially entering governor's race
Wilcoxson denied the allegations, insisting he never acted violently toward Kamin. Court records show Kamin obtained a temporary restraining order but later withdrew her petition in May 2022.
Wilcoxson’s record of physical intimidation doesn’t stop there. According to a September 2022 report from Gulf Coast News, he and Donalds confronted Collier County School Board candidate Kelly Lichter in a supermarket, with Donalds yelling about a lawsuit involving his wife. In a separate incident, Wilcoxson reportedly lunged at Lichter’s husband, Nick, during a Collier County Republican Executive Committee meeting — forcing a deputy and others to restrain him.
His go-to move
The Trident report casts Wilcoxson as an “intimidator” for Donalds, with critics like former Collier County Republican Committeeman Rob Tolp raising alarms about his temperament and pattern of threatening behavior.
“He resorts to threats of violence almost instantaneously,” Tolp told the outlet. “It’s almost like it’s his first go-to move. That’s a bad sign.”
Using campaign funds to pay unofficial advisers occupies a legal gray zone. It’s not outright illegal if the individual performs legitimate campaign work. But propping up a “right-hand man” with Wilcoxson’s rap sheet speaks volumes about the judgment of the man signing the checks. Whether Florida voters will care — or call it out — remains to be seen.
Did Jasmine Crockett just SCOLD Byron Donalds for marrying a white woman?
Isn’t it ironic that the Democratic Party, which is largely built on a platform of “anti-racism,” has so many racists in it?
Take Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), for example.
On a recent episode of “The Breakfast Club” with Charlamagne tha God, Crockett insinuated that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) made a mistake when he married his white wife, Erika Donalds.
Jason Whitlock and “Fearless” contributor Shemeka Michelle dive into the scandal.
“If we continue to put people into office — and that even means some of our skin folk who definitely are not our kinfolk, such as Byron Donalds — who are going to continue to say that, like, I mean the fact that you sitting around talking about life was better under Jim Crow,” Crockett began.
“Is this because you don't understand history or literally it's because you married a white woman and so you think that that whitewashed you?” she continued.
“You couldn’t even be married to a white woman under Jim Crow,” Charlamagne added.
“Correct! ... So I’m like bruh, what is it you talking about? Like what are you saying? Like he just out here, you know, I feel like they give him his talking points and he’s like, ‘Yes, master, I got it,”’ Crockett retorted.
“This is a leftist who's expressing some racial animus, which seems to go against what leftists say they stand for,” says Whitlock.
However, her jab at interracial relationships is doubly hypocritical. Crockett was a loud Kamala Harris supporter, but Harris’ white Jewish husband was never a sore point.
“Ketanji Brown Jackson, I believe she's married to a white Jewish man. Haven't heard Jasmine Crockett talk about that,” adds Whitlock.
“Is Jasmine Crockett holding Byron Donalds to a standard that she doesn't hold leftist politicians to?” he asks.
“Absolutely, and it shows that she's so illogical and just irrational. … This is what they do; they just spew trash talking points that make absolutely no sense because if this was the case, then as you just stated, she would have to hold Kamala and Ketanji Brown [and] Don Lemon … to the same standard, and she doesn't,” says Shemeka.
Crockett’s attack on Donalds, she says, is “because Byron Donalds is not going along with the everyday okie-doke black talking points that they like to push on black people.”
She also condemns Crockett for claiming that Donalds lauded the Jim Crow era as better times.
“That whole Jim Crow is taken completely out of context. … If you listen to the entire thing, that's not what he was saying,” says Shemeka.
To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.
Want more from Jason Whitlock?
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Trump right again? Illegal alien wanted for murder in foreign country and alleged MS-13 leader arrested in US
Federal authorities made two key arrests in recent days, nabbing illegal aliens who are suspected of violent crimes. These arrests suggest that President Donald Trump has been right all along when he claimed that his predecessor allowed foreigners from "jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers" to pour into the United States.
'How did a Venezuelan murderer ... come to be in Michigan?'
The ICE ERO office of Detroit claimed on Tuesday to have arrested a young male illegal alien from Venezuela who is "wanted for murder in his home country." Though ICE Detroit did not reveal the suspect's identity, his arrest appears to be a joint effort of several federal agencies, including the FBI, ATF, and local police.
— (@)
During the Biden administration, several high-profile cases of illegal aliens killing Americans made major headlines. Most notably, Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national with ties to Tren de Aragua, brutally murdered Laken Riley just over a year ago while she was out for a jog around the campus of the University of Georgia.
However, this recent arrest is different in that the suspect appears to have evaded justice in his home country by fleeing to the U.S., prompting Michigan journalist James Dixon to wonder: "How did a Venezuelan murderer — not a murderer of Venezuelan descent, a killer in actual Venezuela — come to be in Michigan?"
About 550 miles southeast of Detroit, near Dale City, Virginia, another apparently violent illegal alien was apprehended Thursday morning. The "top MS-13 leader for the East Coast" and one of three main ringleaders of the gang in the U.S., according to the New York Post, was rounded up as part of a major operation in the state to send criminal illegal aliens packing.
Even President Trump weighed in on the arrest: "Great job by Pam Bondi, @FBIDirectorKash, Tom HOMAN, and Kristi N, on the capture of MS13 leader - A big deal!"
"This is what happens when you let good cops be cops," said FBI Director Kash Patel.
Attorney General Pam Bondi described the suspect, a 24-year-old native of El Salvador, as "the worst of the worst."
'These are gang members, murderers, and rapists. Under President Trump, they are rightly being arrested and deported.'
During the 2024 presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that the ready welcome illegal aliens received under the Biden-Harris administration basically encouraged foreign countries to send their "worst of the worst" to the United States.
"People from jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers" were permitted to pour in, Trump said last May, endangering Americans and allowing some of the migrants to evade justice in their home countries.
In October, Trump placed the blame at the feet of Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, who also served as border czar under Biden. "Kamala should immediately cancel her News Conference because it was just revealed that 13,000 convicted murderers entered our Country during her three and a half year period as Border Czar," he wrote.
Critics scoffed at these types of statements from Trump, and PolitiFact even rated the May statement a "pants on fire" lie, but mainly because Trump claimed that "millions" of such criminals had stolen into the U.S. "Some migrants have criminal records, but PolitiFact found no evidence that they add up to millions," the supposed fact-checker stated.
Earlier this month, Republicans cheered as federal law enforcement deported illegal alien gang members, suspected of other vicious crimes like rape and murder, out of the country.
"These are criminal aliens to our nation. These are gang members, murderers, and rapists. Under President Trump, they are rightly being arrested and deported, but the left wants them to stay. We are Making America Safe Again," said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida).
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GOP lawmakers move to codify DOGE to block left's lawfare
A group of Republican lawmakers plans to introduce legislation that would codify President Donald Trump's executive order that established the Department of Government Efficiency.
If passed, the legislation would help to block the DOGE from the left's lawfare over the next year and a half.
'It's critical that we codify this consequential endeavor.'
Fox News Digital reported that Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) is leading the bill alongside Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), and Michael Rulli (R-Ohio). House DOGE Caucus co-chair Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) is co-sponsoring the legislation.
Mills told the news outlet that the DOGE has provided "a new IT software that has the interoperability to work between all governments and agencies," allowing the Trump administration to perform more analysis and data mining, updating outdated federal government software.
"It's already found over $100-plus billion in cost savings," Mills said, highlighting the cancellation of more than 200,000 unused credit cards.
"I think that codifying this into law, not just having it as an executive order, is really the right thing to do for government transparency and efficiency," he continued.
While enshrining the DOGE would help to protect it from Democratic lawfare, it would also enable the federal government to implement a "reporting structure" between the department and Congress to ensure lawmakers are "good stewards of the taxpayers' funding," Mills said. He noted that this would especially be helpful for programs that failed to meet their intended purposes and, therefore, need to be cut.
Mills also discussed how the United States Digital Services, a technology unit formed by President Barack Obama in 2014 to update and simplify the federal government's technology, has utilized "outdated software programs that didn't look at certain government efficiencies."
He credited Elon Musk for modernizing the USDS program by creating an "algorithm" that "sifts through all these different programs, 24 hours a day, to look at anomalies." This process has allowed the Trump administration to determine which government programs need a more thorough review for waste and abuse, Mills explained.
He called the DOGE "one of the most transparent government agencies or departments that you're going to find."
Mills believes the DOGE's frequent website and X updates will help to rebuild the public's trust in the federal government.
Many of the department's actions have come under legal scrutiny from the left, which has filed a flurry of restraining orders to block the Trump administration's efforts to trim government waste.
On Tuesday, a federal judge accused the Trump administration of violating the Constitution by attempting to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. The judge argued that the administration illegally circumvented Congress.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Musk and the DOGE to turn over records regarding their plans to downsize the federal government in response to a lawsuit filed by 14 Democratic state attorneys general.
Rep. Donalds stated, "Now more than ever, it's critical that we codify this consequential endeavor into federal law."
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