Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, one of the most prominent Black Republicans in Congress, has faced heavy criticism for recent comments. 

During an event on Tuesday, Donalds discussed the Jim Crow era and heavily implied that the lives of Black people were better during this period due to intact nuclear families and more significant support for the Republican Party among Black Americans, blaming Democrats and social welfare policies for what he sees as declines in the Black family.

‘Could your family have existed at all under Jim Crow?’

While Donalds has attempted to defend and clarify his comments, his words have been heavily condemned by Democrats and across Black Twitter. For example, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned Donalds for his “outlandish, outrageous and out of pocket observation” that Black people were better off under Jim Crow.

CNN’s Abby Phillip had Donalds on her show, repeatedly fact-checking his claims that Black people were better off during Jim Crow than after and his claims that Black America was more prosperous during the Trump presidency than during the Biden administration.

Donalds later appeared on MSNBC’s The ReidOut, clashing with Joy Reid while trying to clean up and defend his remarks with their final exchange going viral. On the issue of Jim Crow and the strength of the Black family, Reid insightfully points out that Donalds’ family — his wife is “a white conservative activist” — would have been illegal under Jim Crow. The revelation seems to leave Donalds speechless momentarily before he acknowledged Reid’s point but reiterated his position.

‘Victor Newman is tired of your mess’

In addition to being called out by prominent Black politicians, journalists and Black Twitter, Donalds has now found himself being called out by an unexpected source.

Eric Braeden, who everyone with a Black grandmother knows from his decades portraying Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless, tweeted his outrage over Donalds’ comments.

“Who is this BYRON DONALDS CLOWN WHO , as a black man, PRAISED THE JIM CROW ERA???” Braeden tweeted Thursday morning. He recounted observing the Jim Crow South firsthand after he arrived in the United States in 1959 and argued that people like Donalds are too young to appreciate what it was like for Black people during this era.

Braeden has continued to bring the heat for Donalds and other conservatives in the comments to his post, at one point calling their arguments “blatant and insulting BS.”

“Victor Newman is tired of your mess,” columnist Leslie Gray Streeter summarized with a GIF from the soap opera.

Despite his missteps, Donalds remains one of the country’s most prominent Black Republicans. He is reportedly on former President Donald Trump’s shortlist for potential vice presidential candidates. So we can expect to see more of Donalds, but he might want to reconsider his next round of public statements if he doesn’t want a repeat of the roasting he’s received.