A Republican politician looking to be the next governor of Florida found himself in the hot seat over the weekend after some tawdry details about his past went viral.
Rep. Byron Donalds, 47, has some skeletons in his closet that are beginning to emerge after his wife boldly shared a piece of their history, opening the door for the public to dig into Donald’s scandalous past and how he wooed the ladies before her.
On February 14, his wife, Erika Donalds, 46, took to social media to express her love for Byron with a heartfelt message about how they first met, with a throwback photo of the couple kissing and embracing each other.
What was meant to be a loving post celebrating their relationship backfired on Byron and Erika when other social media users zeroed in on the specific dates she shared in the tweet, which gave internet sleuths enough information to put the Donalds under fire.
“Remembering the spot where @ByronDonalds asked for my number in the Oglesby Student Union at @FloridaState in the fall of 1999. Our first ‘date’ came a few months later – on Valentine’s Day 2000. Thanks, babe, for making all 27 of our Valentine’s Days together so special,” Erika wrote on X.
Progressive pundit Mehdi Hasan was among the people on the platform to blast Erika for seemingly confirming that Donalds hit on her while he was still married to his first wife, Bisa Hall, from 1999 to 2002.
“Insane that she just tweeted out these dates, given it is a matter of public record that he was married to his first wife at the time, just married in fact,” Hasan, 46, tweeted in response to Erika’s public valentine for Donalds.
More salacious backstories about Donalds began resurfacing as well. His first marriage to Hall was brought back into the X timeline the following day when a screenshot from a 2024 article resurfaced.
“Not only did Byron Donalds allegedly cheat on his first wife with his second, but he also initially told her he was Jamaican—fake accent and all,” tweeted Reason reporter Billy Binion, along with quotes from Hall about her time dating Byron.
In the Florida Trident article, Donalds first wife, Hall, said, “[Bryon] told me he was from Jamaica and he had a Jamaican accent – and he was cute… Then the next time I saw him, the Jamaican accent was gone, and he said he was from New York.”
According to his official biography, the congressman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, before graduating from Florida State University in Tallahassee. Prior to transferring to FSU, he met Hall as a freshman at the crosstown HBCU, Florida A&M University, in 1996.
Hall explained that the then-18-year-old college student lied about his accent to “make him stand out” because there were “a ton of guys from New York around,” but very few from Jamaica.
The combination of Donalds allegedly lying about being Jamaican and stepping out on his marriage fueled growing backlash directed at the longtime ally of President Donald Trump. For instance, one person on X declared, “Liars gonna keep lying.”
“Bro lived a whole double life,” a second poster expressed. Similarly, a tweet read, “This man has been a fraud his entire life. The fact that he is a viable candidate speaks volumes about the decay within a segment of the electorate.”
Another account posted, “That doesn’t surprise me a bit. The guy is a fraud to his core.” Donalds also got dragged when someone else joked, “Faking a Jamaican accent to bag a bunny is elite levels of snowmanship.”
While Bryon and Erika would tie the knot in 2003 and share three children together, the start of their 27-year romance supposedly began with a pre-wedding pregnancy before the Crown Heights native even divorced his first wife.
“Long story short, turned out Erika was pregnant, and they had to hurry up and get married,” Hall told Trident Express. She even claimed Donalds asked her to cover the cost of their divorce and broke his promise that he would repay the fees when he could afford it.
As of July 2024, Hall was a married public school teacher and mother of two children. She remains a private citizen, so most of the information about her life is not public. Meanwhile, Byron is running to replace term-limited Ron DeSantis as the governor of Florida.
Donalds will have to defeat several Republican primary challengers to face the Democratic candidate in the 2026 statewide general election. As a politician who links his devout Christian faith with his conservative policies, the MAGA affiliate’s complicated relationship past could come back to haunt him in the cutthroat world of politics.
The president may have his back, but Donalds should not expect to get an endorsement from his ex-wife. In 2024, Hall said, “You trot him out there, and it makes some people feel better about Trump. I think what he’s doing is super dangerous, and I think morally he and I have no crossover at all.”
Great Job Y. Kyles & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star for sharing this story.
