Byron Donalds speaks at Florida A&M Townhall (Jorde Jones)
Florida A&M students packed into Lee Hall on Tuesday night as Byron Donalds attended a campus town hall.
Donalds, a Republican and close ally to Trump faced a great deal of pushback from students at the state’s only public Historically Black University, which sits in a precinct that voted against Republican candidate Donald Trump by over 90% in the 2024 Presidential Election, according to Votehub.
The townhall was hosted by Florida A&M’s Student Government Association in collaboration with the Florida A&M office of student activities and RISE Tallahassee.
The event’s structure came after months of planning and shifting strategy. Kennedy Williams, the current Student Body President of Florida A&M, originally envisioned a head-to-head debate on campus between Democratic candidate David Jolly and Republican Byron Donalds. However, when scheduling and format negotiations led organizers to pivot, the plan evolved into hosting two separate campus town halls.
At the townhall, Williams emphasized that despite the format change, the underlying intention of bringing candidates to campus remained the same; to increase civic engagement among the student body and ensure that student voices at Florida’s only public HBCU were heard.
“FAMU has always been a bastion for higher learning, but beyond our classrooms, we are an incubator for changemakers and activists,” Williams said. “Rattlers have always and will always step up to claim our rightful seat at the table.”
Donalds attempted to tackle affordability, which has become a salient issue for Floridians as they grapple with ever increasing costs.
Donalds pointed to insurance reform as a potential solution, stating that he believed lowering insurance costs could lower housing costs for residents.
He also presented his past work in the financial industry as a reason that voters should trust him on matters of the economy.
“My career was banking, insurance and financial services … The next governor has to [know] how a company’s balance sheet operates, how their income statements operate, how their cash flow statements operate,” Donalds said.
Tensions began to flare when Donalds addressed immigration enforcement and the recently signed 287(g) agreement, which deputizes campus police at FAMU to carry out immigration activities in collaboration with ICE. This has raised major concern among students regarding potential profiling and unlawful detainment.
“If you’re an American, legal resident and somebody who’s in our country lawfully, you have nothing to fear from federal law,” Donalds said. “We have a responsibility to comply with federal law, and we will comply with federal law in the state of Florida…There has to be a standard in immigration.”
Within the crowd, boos broke out before Jayla Jones, a fourth-year Political Science student, expressed her belief that the Congressman was being untruthful.
“Answer the question! Are you going to protect students?” Jones said. “You’re lying!”
The audience broke out into audible clapping and cheering after Jones stood up and directly addressed Donalds.
Shortly thereafter, Jones was confronted by event staff and eventually removed from the event by FAMU Police.
Following the question posed to Donalds on immigration, the student question portion of the event began.
Students asked Donalds questions on a variety of topics important to them, from concerns about data centers to questions about his stances on gun laws.
Iana Bridges, a Pre-Law Criminal Justice student, asked Donalds specifically about his connection to the Black community.
“Many students here feel there is a massive disconnect between the lived experiences of everyday Black Americans and a Black Republican lawmaker who champions policies that roll back civil rights protections,” Bridges said.
“How do you argue that you understand or care about the struggles of Black Americans when your political alignment and personal circle are rooted in places that historically exclude them?” Bridges said.
Donalds pushed back, citing the Republican Party’s history.
“My party has always been the party that fought for civil rights … The 1964 Civil Rights Act was filibustered by Democrat Senators,” Donalds said.
Shortly after the student questions began, a fire alarm began to rattle Lee Hall. After minutes of uncomfortable murmurs, attendees were instructed to leave the building.
FAMU PD officers confirmed that there had not been a fire and that the alarm had likely been pulled.
Over forty minutes later the building was cleared, and Donalds returned to give his pitch to a noticeably smaller audience.
“As a Republican I’m not telling you, I’m asking you to vote for me because I’m talking about policy,” Donalds said. “I would ask Black people in Florida, Black people in America have they [the Democratic Party] delivered?”
Previously, Jolly said he won’t debate Donalds, accusing the Republican of trying to dictate the terms of the forums and acting in bad faith.
“It is clear, given the tenor of the current campaign environment including Byron’s repeated lies and bad faith, that debates this cycle would not create constructive, honest conversation and would only stoke division, animosity and bad will. That’s not something I wish to do for our state,” Jolly said in a statement.
Both candidates accepted different appearances at different times.
The second installment of the series featuring Jolly is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in Lee Hall, where FAMU students will once again have the opportunity to directly question candidate platform positions.