A GOP congressman running for governor in Florida who has opposed marijuana legalization in the state and sponsored federal legislation to upend a Washington, D.C. sentencing reform law has admitted for the first time that he was arrested for selling cannabis as a young adult.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a Trump-endorsed GOP candidate vying to replace Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), was pressed on the apparent disconnect during an interview with CBS Miami that aired on Saturday.
While it was previously known that Donalds faced an arrest over marijuana in 1997—only to have the charges dropped years later as part of a pre-trial diversion program—this marked the first time he’s publicly admitted to selling small amounts of cannabis and acknowledged that he benefitted from the type of criminal justice reform law he’s worked to undermine in the District of Columbia.
“Honestly, I was walking down the street, I was leaving a party, officers came up, asked me if I would empty my pockets. I said, ‘Yes, of course.’ I had a dime bag of marijuana in my pocket. That’s the story,” the congressman said. “It was bad decisions. I can’t undo that decision.”
Donalds said he sold “low-level amounts” of marijuana, reiterating that he made “terrible decisions” and that it was among the things he did in his early adulthood that he wishes he could “undo.”
“I wish I could undo [it]. I wish I could, but I can’t do that,” he said. “I would tell people, if you examine my life since 20 years old, my life has really been a story of redemption.”
But that redemption arc was made possible, in part, thanks to sentencing policy that afforded Donalds a level of relief that he’s sought to deprive D.C. residents of—a point that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) raised during a House floor debate last year where she slammed her GOP colleague over the apparent double standard.
“Imagine standing in front of a judge with your life hanging in balance, and instead of prison you’re given a promise of mercy. Your record is wiped clean, and you’ve got a second chance at life,” Crockett said. “Imagine turning that into a promotion and you go to college and get a job and even become a member of Congress. That’s what redemption looks like.”
Hellbound and Down 