Comedian Larry Wilmore likened the increasing number of black Republicans to “raisins” in “potato salad” while discussing diversity at Republican National Convention with GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida.
Donalds was among those who spoke during the first day of the convention, which also saw influencer Amber Rose deliver remarks, as the Republican Party formally nominated former President Donald Trump as its candidate for the 2024 presidential election. Donalds and Wilmore appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, where the GOP lawmaker praised the Republican Party for becoming more diverse.
“The party’s come a long way and it’s continuing to go even more ways. Look, you had Amber Rose, you just talked about her. You had the mother of the fallen soldier, Mrs. [Madeline] Brame out of New York City, myself, Wesley Hunt, John James, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy,” Donalds told Maher. “I mean, I can go down the list. I remember Republican conventions eight years ago, 12 years ago, there might have been one or two black people on that stage.”
“Our party is growing, it’s getting more diverse and when you’re in those convention halls like I was for five straight days, nobody says, ‘Oh that guy’s black! Let me take a picture with him,’ they’re like, ‘Man, that’s Byron! I love him!’ White, black, Hispanic, doesn’t matter,” Donalds said.
“I would say this,” Wilmore interjected. “Just because you add more raisins to the potato salad, it doesn’t make the potato salad any better.”
Wilmore then directed the conversation to abortion.
Wilmore notoriously dropped the N-word when addressing then-President Barack Obama at the 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner.
A New York Times/Siena College poll reported that 26% of likely black voters are backing former President Trump. Multiple polls have shown Biden losing support from key groups that strongly backed him in the 2020 election, when 87% of black voters backed him according to CNN’s exit poll.
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