One of Donald Trump’s top allies in Congress has been accused of committing “voter fraud” after he had another member cast a vote for him so he could appear on Bill Maher’s show.
Byron Donalds, of Florida, was slammed by Jim McGovern on the House floor Tuesday, with the latter lawmaker claiming Donalds broke procedure on Friday with his vote-by-proxy.
“Let’s just call this what it is,” McGovern said. “It’s voter fraud under the rules that the Republicans have put into place.”
The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out that Donalds was among those who backed ending proxy voting once Mike Johnson declared votes outside the Capitol were unconstitutional.
“Today, House Republicans will vote to END proxy voting once and for all,” Donalds posted to X on Jan. 9, 2023. “The House of Representatives isn’t a tech company. Its members should work IN PERSON in the People’s House!”
McGovern also took aim at Johnson, noting the House speaker voted remotely 39 times after the practice was introduced by Democrats amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He voted remotely so he could go home early,” McGovern alleged of Johnson. “He voted remotely so he could visit school kids. He voted remotely for an entire week once—he just didn’t show up.”
McGovern said Republicans had introduced rules for “thee and not me.”
The lawmaker indicated he was particularly peeved that Donalds had gotten away with the illegal vote because of how small Republicans’ majority, of three seats, is in the House.
Donalds’ vote-by-proxy was in favor of the Protecting American Energy Production Act, which is part of Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda. The act would have passed with or without Donalds’ vote, but McGovern did not care.
The lawmaker said it was ridiculous Donalds could get away with voting from outside Washington for a “Hollywood” interview while the Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen could not do the same after giving birth to her child.
“She can’t vote because this majority has refused to put in place a bipartisan tool to allow it,” McGovern said. “Meanwhile, Republicans are out here breaking the rules where they jet off to Hollywood. So clearly the rules apply and are held so sacrosanct by the majority that they can’t be changed for new moms, but somehow they can be changed for interviews in Los Angeles.”
Donalds’ sit-down with Maher—the reason he left Washington and caused all of this outcry—got testy at times.
The Real Time host snapped at Donalds after he suggested Trump should receive some brownie points for not hiding his intent compared to previous administrations.
“We’re criminals, but we’re announcing it!” Maher said to the rep in a viral moment.
