MS NOW Host Questions Whether Florida's First Black Governor Is 'Kinfolk'

The same network that calls Byron Donalds' election as Florida's first Black governor “a historic win” spent part of election night asking whether he counts as one of us.

MS NOW host Symone Sanders Townsend acknowledged on Tuesday that Donalds “is making history,” then added that he “is going to continue the political direction” of Gov. Ron DeSantis. She noted he had appeared that morning on The Breakfast Club and “sounded similar to Ron DeSantis.” Then came the line: “as they say in my community, all kinfolk ain't skinfolk.” Fox News reported she appeared to use the phrase backwards.

Here is what the segment leaves out. Donalds narrowly beat Democrat David Jolly on a night when, as Fox noted, Democrats gained ground across much of the country. Florida voters weighed policy and chose it. Sounding like the sitting governor of a state that just elected his successor is not a racial disqualification.

Tim Graham of the Media Research Center told Fox News Digital the remark suggests a Black conservative is “being a traitor to your race,” and compared it to the treatment Clarence Thomas received in 1991.

It is not the first time. Donalds had to tell Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to “keep my wife out of this” after she criticized his marriage. The pattern is plain: history is celebrated only when the person making it votes the right way.

Fox said Donalds had not responded to a request for comment on Sanders Townsend's remarks.