Byron Donalds on Trump’s Endorsement & His Plan for Florida | Planet Tyrus

Summary

Planet Tyrus: Byron Donalds on Trump’s Endorsement & His Plan for Florida

Date: July 7, 2026
Host: Tyrus (Shawn Harrison)
Guest: Rep. Byron Donalds

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Episode Overview

This lively, candid episode of Planet Tyrus features a high-energy conversation between host Tyrus and Congressman Byron Donalds. The focus: Donalds’s surprise endorsement by Donald Trump to run for Florida governor, his vision for Florida’s future, the realities of political life, family, and the importance of authenticity in leadership. The discussion is a blend of humor, straight talk, cultural critique, and intimate stories, offering listeners a real sense of both men’s values and the stakes in Florida politics.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Trump’s Spontaneous Endorsement & Its Impact

• Story Recollection (00:30–03:56, 06:27–12:31)
  • Tyrus and Donalds recall being at Mar-a-Lago when Trump unexpectedly endorsed Donalds for governor.
  • Donalds: “He goes, 'You should just get in. You're my guy. Just get in.' And then...he just puts out the Run, Byron, run.” (09:38)
  • The endorsement was surprising and historic, occurring before Donalds had officially announced his campaign.
  • Both men reflect on the life-changing nature of such public recognition:
    Tyrus: “That’s a moment, like, when my grandchildren…they’ll look back and be like, Grandpa, you knew the president?” (11:41)

2. Navigating Fame, Politics, and Family Life

• Always ‘On’ in Public (03:42–05:05)
  • Discusses the challenges of being a public figure: always under scrutiny, no real “off” time, balancing public engagement and family presence.
• Date Nights & “Quality Time” Innovations
  • Both reflect on how busy schedules as public figures and fathers force creative approaches to spending time with spouses and kids.
    Donalds: “My wife does not let political events be date nights.” (03:18)
    • Casual moments, like getting a haircut together or grabbing Italian ice, become precious.

3. Cultural & Political Identity: Candid Talk on Race, Conservatism, and Policy

• On Changing Political Views (15:11–17:27)
  • Both grew up as Democrats and became conservative as adults, prioritizing small government, self-reliance, and lower taxation.
  • Donalds: “Liberals think about policy, conservatives think through policy.” (15:27)
  • The impact of overregulation and big government, especially on aspiring entrepreneurs and minority communities.

4. Hot-Button Issues: Gender, Identity, and ‘Grown-Ass Manism’

• Transcending Cancel Culture (18:31–22:01)
  • Discusses transgender policy debates and “bully tactics” in social discourse, particularly post-pandemic.
  • Donalds: “If this doesn’t make any sense, I’m not just gonna go along with it…For Dems to try to be the party of science but then to ignore basic human biology and puberty? That’s crazy to me.” (20:17)
  • Tyrus: “When you become a grown ass man…everything slows down. And it’s just — does this make sense or does it not? It goes in two boxes.” (21:51)
• Humor/Self-Effacing Moments
  • Tyrus jokes about parental discipline in response to “neon pronouns” controversy:
    “I would get my neon belt, you know.” (21:23)

5. Fatherhood, Legacy, and Raising Kids in the Public Eye

• Present (Not Just ‘There’) as a Dad (24:03–26:32)

  • Both men describe the difference between being physically present and being actively engaged as fathers, despite demanding work lives.
  • Donalds: “The most important thing for a man sometimes is to not respond…to have the discipline to understand what needs a response and just letting all the other stuff go.” (24:40)
  • Creative routines like gym time, sports coaching, and Sunday rituals help sustain family bonds.

• Discussing Growth and Independence in Children (29:46–38:34)

  • Value in guiding, but not hovering over, kids as they mature.
  • Donalds: “Your kids…they have to start taking responsibility for themselves. It can't be because you were there watching every step.” (35:38)

6. Florida: Issues, Vision, and the “92 Bulls” Analogy

• Policy Focus for Florida (42:43–45:36)
  • Modernization & Affordability:
    • Regulatory reforms in insurance and property taxes.
    • Streamlining government permitting to lower costs, especially housing:
      “To permit a new house in the United States of America, 30% of the cost…is government permitting…Not sheetrock, not pipes…Government.” (44:16)
  • Commitment to run Florida with “common sense, conservatism, law and order…All that’s going to remain in place. But we got to get more efficient. We got to become more modern as how we operate as a state.” (45:36)
  • Warns newcomers: “You’re coming here for how we do our business, and we’re not changing our business to be what you left.” (46:28)
  • The “92 Bulls” analogy: maintaining Florida’s champion status by evolving and not getting complacent.
    • “It’s not about celebrating where you are today. It's really about how do you get from the 92 Bulls to the 98 Bulls.” (50:17)

7. Education & Workforce: Beyond College for All

• Promoting Trades and Alternatives to College (51:45–55:54)
  • Both advocate for trades, apprenticeships, and workforce pathways as valued alternatives to the college-for-everyone mentality.
  • Donalds: “The K12 system can't be just a conduit to colleges and universities...We have to reembrace workforce education.” (52:01)
  • Tyrus shares the story of Lawrence Taylor’s grandson prioritizing a trade (electrician) while pursuing football.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Byron Donalds Stunned by Endorsement:

  “Not when I was 20. This was not on the bingo card.” (07:50)

• On Surviving Cancel Culture:

  “If this doesn’t make any sense, I’m not just gonna go along with it.” (20:17 — Donalds)

• Tyrus on Parenthood:

  “The sacrifice of not being there every day…it kind of evens it out for that day. You see that they're able to do the work…there is no award, there’s no check that can ever duplicate that.” (34:56)

• On Political Realities and ‘Word Salad’ Politics:

  “Being genuine and being able to have an actual conversation is a difficult task these days for some…you catch them on a thing and ask them a question, and you get a…I don’t even call it a word salad, because that’s not fair to salad.” (41:09 — Tyrus)

• On Modernizing Florida:

  “If you cannot drive efficiencies, your budgets are going to be out of control…you’re not going to be able to deliver services the way they need to be delivered.” (45:05 — Donalds)

• Advice for Kids & Young Adults:

  “You have to know that sometimes people just want to distract you and get you off your goal and your purpose…The hardest thing to do now is to have the discipline to understand what needs a response and just letting all the other stuff go.” (24:40 — Donalds)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Trump’s Endorsement Story: 00:30–12:31
• Family & Life on the Road: 02:48–06:27
• Race, Conservatism, and Political Evolution: 13:11–17:27
• Gender, Trans Issues, and Culture Wars: 18:31–22:01
• Parenthood, Sports, and Fatherly Wisdom: 24:03–38:34
• Florida Challenges and Opportunities: 42:43–51:45
• Education & Trades Advocacy: 51:45–55:54

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Tone & Final Thoughts

This episode stands out for its authenticity, humor, and willingness to tackle divisive and personal topics with candor. Both Tyrus and Byron Donalds share stories that are as relatable as they are politically insightful—blending policy with parental advice, sports nostalgia with American exceptionalism, and keeping it real throughout. No matter where listeners fall on the political spectrum, there’s no mistaking the sincerity and passion behind their words.

Closing Remark:

“Thanks, brother. Best of luck. I don’t think you need it, but thanks, man.” (58:13 — Tyrus)

Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Shawn Harrison]

And then, out of nowhere, he asked where you were, called you up, and he endorsed you to run for the governor of the great state of Florida.

[Byron Donalds]

He goes, you should just get in. You're my guy. Just get in.

[Shawn Harrison]

And I think that's the reason why you're gaining so much momentum, is you're just. You can sit down with anyone and have a real conversation.

[Byron Donalds]

But with Florida, I would tell you our big thing is we're in that position today, but it's not about celebrating where you are today. And so my job as governor is to make sure that we're on that trajectory so that we keep winning.

[Shawn Harrison]

Well, I was rapping since the last time I saw you. We were in the same room, but we were on opposite sides and we both kind of got rolled up on it was like surprised. And you were endorsed by the president.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

To run for governor, which is, I think, a pretty historic, amazing thing.

[Byron Donalds]

It's been crazy. It's been crazy. I remember that night though, because here's what happened. Was somebody on the table? I was at, they were like, yeah, and I hear Tyrus is here. And I was like, for real? I said, where is he? Cuz I was just going to come over.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. And I was like, the same thing I was on. Cuz I just got off the road and my wife was like, hey, we've been invited to dinner at Mar a Lago. And I was like, you know why? Because we're tired. And you just. People don't understand, like Your job is 24 7, you know, and, and non stop and, and mindful traveling. It's just always something, always something. So when I get home, the two and a half days I'm home, the last thing I want to do is go somewhere. And you're right.

[Byron Donalds]

So I think for people to understand, like when you go, I'm coughing all over the mic.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, we still waking up. We're good now.

[Byron Donalds]

But when you, when you're on the road doing events the way you do them, and then a last minute, like gala dinner pops up and you go, it's, it's not just A gala dinner. It's work going in, and you want to be kind and generous to people and take pictures and all that. Then it's the sitting down. And then even when you're there at the table, people will come up and you want to be gracious. You know what I mean?

[Shawn Harrison]

You have to.

[Byron Donalds]

You want to be gracious.

[Shawn Harrison]

The reason why you're able to do those.

[Byron Donalds]

Exactly right.

[Shawn Harrison]

Go to those events.

[Byron Donalds]

Exactly right. That's exactly right. You know, but it's intense.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, it is intense.

[Byron Donalds]

And.

[Shawn Harrison]

And at the same time, when you're with your loved one, you also. It's like a date night. So you can't take.

[Byron Donalds]

Your wife lets that be date night.

[Shawn Harrison]

It's when you only have two days sometimes when you're hustling, like. And our kids are at the age where they're in everything. They're in all the activities. Everyone's doing something. My daughter's jumping. Son plays baseball. My daughter swims. Other daughters in the orchestra. So it's like there is no date night time. You know, when you get to go do something without the kids, that's technically a date, man.

[Byron Donalds]

My wife does not. She does not let political events be date nights.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, well, I don't. Do she.

[Byron Donalds]

She canonized that one. She goes, if it's a political event, even though I'm dressed up and she's looking good and you're looking good, it's not date night.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, no, she's. You have to try to. To fit it in. Because we're. We don't really like to go out. You know, we're homebodies. Do you like to go out still?

[Byron Donalds]

Sometimes. But that's even changed because the spotlight.

[Shawn Harrison]

Because you have. Not just the fact that you're a politician, but you have either. Either one side loves you.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And the other side despises you, which is, you know.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, but they don't talk to us at our sides. They don't even come up.

[Shawn Harrison]

No, they don't. But it's still like this. You're always on.

[Byron Donalds]

Everywhere you go, you're always on guard.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. There's always someone felt like. You can't have, like, a bad day. You know what I'm saying? You can't have, like, if your kids do something and you like, hey, cut that out. Something. He's yelling at his child. Like, you're always under the microscope. You're almost performative all the time.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

You know what? The. Like, the date. Kind of date time, I would say it is now. I'll get home And I'll just schedule with my barber. Like, I just try to find times to get in. So the last couple times I go to my wife, I'm like, hey, I gotta go to the barber. You wanna go? And she's like, yes. Cause when we go, it's just us in the car. We go there. I get in his little booth and it's like he has his own little booth. It's not like a whole barbershop. He used to be in the shop and then he transitioned to one of those, like, Sweets deals. So he's got his own deal. And then, like, we'll leave. And then like, there's like a Rita's down the street, you know, like the Rita's where you like, Swedish fish, Italian ice. And I'll be like, you want to Ritas? She'll go, yeah. So we all go sit over there, get one. You know, just sit there, talk in the car while we eat it.

[Shawn Harrison]

Cause it's quality. It's quality time, you know? And it's funny because I'm. I was getting a little emotional because I've been between barbers because, you know, a barber is a relationship, big time. It is a relationship. It is, it is, it is, it is. And I had a barber in Louisiana forever. Slick. And yeah, they always have a cool nickname, right? It's never, you know, and. And Slick was. He was always, always with him. I was always listening to his. His dating life, you know, And I would always be like, when you going to settle down? So he's like, you know, he ain't got time for that. He had big plans. And then he decided to go to a mobile van.

[Byron Donalds]

A mobile van?

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. Which I wasn't feeling, but I was like, cool, he can come to the house. And then he took the. His show on the road and then he ended up, like, going to Atlanta and he was just there. And so between. And then we moved from Louisiana to Florida and I've been looking for a bar. It's a hard adjustment. I found it easy. And especially like in certain areas, barber shops are just up and gone. It's all hairstylists and like to find an old school barber that uses the. It's not as easy as it used to be. And plus, guys have kind of gotten out of the game.

[Byron Donalds]

Yes.

[Shawn Harrison]

It's hard to find a good. When you get a good barber, you

[Byron Donalds]

hold on to hold on.

[Shawn Harrison]

But I, But I digress because we were talking about. We were at Mar a Lago on opposite sides of the. On the thing and President Trump was not scheduled to be there. He was. I think he was just going home. He wasn't actually going to be speaking there.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And then he does what he.

[Byron Donalds]

He always does.

[Shawn Harrison]

He's rolled up. I mean, I get it. It's his house. It's his house. Like, it's his thing.

[Byron Donalds]

He's like, who's in my ballroom tonight?

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. So.

[Byron Donalds]

Oh, I'll go down there.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. And that's what he did. He went down there and was sitting at the. At the table, and the place goes crazy, and he. He makes his thing, and he gets up there, and he was supposed to say hi for, like, five minutes. And he recognized some people, and there were some. I think there was some offices, people running for offices, local offices and stuff like that was going on. And he talked about that. And then out of nowhere, he asked where you were, called you up, and he endorsed you to run for the governor of the great state of Florida. Like, that, to me, I think, was. I mean, it is an historic moment.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And considering where you came from, was there ever a moment. I mean, you've had levels of success, but being endorsed by a sitting president

[Announcer]

live,

[Shawn Harrison]

was that ever something you would ever imagine?

[Byron Donalds]

No, never. It was. Not when I was 20. This was not on the bingo card.

[Shawn Harrison]

Oh, me neither.

[Byron Donalds]

Let's put it that way. This is not the deal where I was, like, in high school, in college, even early on in my career, never did I think anything like this was gonna happen. But honestly, Tea Party movement just got involved in the conservative movement, started running for office. But this is. Never thought that. But it's. It. Honestly, it's a blessing. I'm 47 now, and to see how life has just matriculated, how God has really ordered the steps in my life. I'm just a blessed man. It was crazy. It's crazy, like, even thinking about it now and knowing him and being able to spend so much time with him, to have that support.

[Shawn Harrison]

I mean, what's crazy about it is I don't think you even announced yet. If I don't remember. Right. Like, I'm trying to remember. Like, he usually. He takes a long time to endorse somebody, but it was, like, out the gate.

[Byron Donalds]

So what happened was this was last February, and he and I had talked about it a couple of times, and I know other people in Florida were trying to run for governor, and everybody's trying to get the president's endorsement. And so I saw him at the golf club one Sunday. I was having lunch with another guy, and he Comes in. Of course, when he comes into any room, everybody just turns and focuses. There was an old article written by. I think it was Bill Simmons that talked about NBA All Star Weekend. And he was saying how you would have all these stars in the room, but when Michael Jordan comes in, it's different. The whole room changes.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, it hits different.

[Byron Donalds]

And that's Trump. He comes in, it hits different. So he came in, people were swarming him. He sees me. I go over, he goes, are you gonna run for governor? And I said, I want to, but I really would love to have your support. And he goes, you should just get in. He goes, you're my guy. Just get in. And then I look like. I think it was like two weeks later or something like that that he just puts out the Run, Byron, run. So then I called Hannity and I said, sean, you saw the tweet. He's like, I saw it. What are you doing? I said, don't tell anybody. I'm gonna come on your show. I'm gonna announce. That was 16 months ago, 17 months ago now. And then we just been running downhill ever since. Like, I think what we saw at that event in Palm beach, that's just him saying, I heard he was here. Come on up. Yeah, I'm just gonna reiterate it, just so everybody knows this is what's happening.

[Shawn Harrison]

And I was sitting there, and I was like, oh, man, that's really cool. And then it was some other people at the table. I'll leave them nameless, but there were some other people that were expecting to be recognized and all that stuff. And I was just sitting there eating my. I was like. My wife was letting me have the extra steak, so I was like, this is great, because I was starving. I just got off the plane. I was like, do you want the steak? And she's like, no, just eat the damn steak, because I know you're hungry. So I'm sitting there, and he started talking about big, dumb guys. And I was like. And I was joking to my wife. I said, you think you're talking about me? And she's like, a thousand percent. He's talking about you, big dumb guy. And we're, like, laughing about it, and all of a sudden, it's Dyrus here. And he's like, get up here. And I was like, the president. I say, he just called me out in front of all these people and come up there. I think I made a joke or something and thanked him and gave him a shout out. But I was just. Was like, that's crazy. I still look back at that as, like, that's a moment. Unfortunately, now, the way the media is, they're going to downplay anything that this president does. But there is. There's a moment, like, when my grandchildren, when all this bullshit is done.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

That they'll look back and be like, grand Grandpa, you knew the president. I'm like, did I know him?

[Announcer]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

He once called me up at it, you know, like, it's. It's one of those things where it is going to change your family history forever, regardless of whether it was a Democrat or Republican. And then the fact that it's. President Trump is even going to be bigger because he was so much of. He was so much of a big star before he went into politics. He was already internationally known. You know, he was already in movies playing himself. And nobody ever said, who's that guy? You know what I'm saying? He had already had this embodiment of work and then the presidency and the amount of the trials and tribulations that he went through trying to push the conservative movement and help America be a better place. I think 15 to 20 years from now, history's going to look at it very differently.

[Byron Donalds]

The crazy thing has been that he was a mogul.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

Like people in the entertainment world. Oh, this person's a mogul. This person's a mogul. No, Donald Trump was a genuine mogul and then became president. That just does not happen.

[Shawn Harrison]

No, typically. And they don't want to, because usually they're worried about hurting the other side.

[Byron Donalds]

That's right. And so I think I agree with you. I think that time is gonna pass. I think a lot of people are gonna look back and reflect and realize that this is not just historic, it's not just a part of American history. It's really going to be an iconic time in American history.

[Shawn Harrison]

I think so. I. I think so. And, you know, speaking of iconic, you did mention the NBA. And, you know, you. You're from New York, so I'm assuming

[Byron Donalds]

I'm happy for the Knicks. I'm not a Knicks fan, but I respect.

[Shawn Harrison]

Okay, you know what? I respect that because you know how many bandwagon. I'm a Celtic fan, so I'm beyond the Jaylen Brown travesty.

[Byron Donalds]

What did they do?

[Shawn Harrison]

I don't.

[Byron Donalds]

What did they do?

[Shawn Harrison]

I. I said this, like, two weeks ago, and I never talk about color because I won't be defined by that. And you're the same way. But I was like, was Jaylen Brown too black for the NBA, they wouldn't put him on the top like he is. He is, he is politically probably more different than I ever have been.

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

But I would let him date my daughter. He is a stand up, strong individual, believes in his values. He's never off the field, problem, never misses a game, plays hurt, carries his team. There was that great moment where Tatum was a little shook in the playoffs and he's like, don't worry, worry about your shot. I got him. You know, this is the guy. This man is a leader. And you just, I don't even know what happened there. They just decided they didn't want him anymore.

[Byron Donalds]

That's crazy. First of all, listen, this is no disrespect to Paul George. Paul George has been a great player

[Shawn Harrison]

in the NBA with like four knee, major knee injuries.

[Byron Donalds]

Like he's, if you can compare Jaylen Brown and Paul George today, it's not a comparison. No.

[Shawn Harrison]

No.

[Byron Donalds]

So that trade doesn't even make sense to me.

[Shawn Harrison]

That was them dumping him off. That was just.

[Byron Donalds]

First of all, Jayson Tatum, we all know he could play. There's no doubt about that.

[Shawn Harrison]

But he's got a bad Achilles. And you don't know, you don't know

[Byron Donalds]

the way they do that surgery today, that thing might be better than the other Achilles he got.

[Shawn Harrison]

He started having the cramp. He started having the calf cramps in the playoffs, which would happen to Durant with Golden State.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah. But I think you just need time.

[Shawn Harrison]

He came back. I didn't think he was going to play at all this year. And that was great, you know, and the Celtics just, I don't understand why

[Byron Donalds]

you would get rid of Jalen Brown. I don't know Jalen's politics because I've just never paid attention to it. But you see on the court, wokesh.

[Shawn Harrison]

I mean, but I, I think, though, but I see, I see a conservative in there.

[Byron Donalds]

I, I, it's in there.

[Shawn Harrison]

It's in there.

[Byron Donalds]

He's.

[Shawn Harrison]

Because when we were young, you know, I was a Dem. Everyone was a Democrat when you're younger because you don't really think about things. You don't really. And then you get your first paycheck, your real first paycheck, and you see how much taxation is in there. I was a Republican instantly.

[Byron Donalds]

Oh, check it. So here what I was told a long time ago by a mentor of mine. He said, he said Democrats, he said liberals. He didn't say Democrat, Republican. He said liberals think about policy, conservatives think through policy.

[Shawn Harrison]

Right. Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

And that's the difference. And when you start thinking through a lot of these things. That's when people tend to start leaning more to the right, leaning more conservatively. You said it. Growing up as a Democrat, my family out of New York City, they were all registered Democrats. I was a registered Democrat when I was 30 and I started really looking at politics and public policy and not just thinking about stuff, but then started to think through it. That's when I was just like, I'm not a Democrat. No, I'm actually very conservative.

[Shawn Harrison]

You know, once it's funny how education, when you start educating yourself and researching and read between the lines and not just pay attention what's presented to you right through media, it's amazing. And especially. And again you always hear, you know, because for a long time it was for some reason our, our skin tone is attached to our political beliefs, our wealth or whatever it is like blackness can be taken away from you. All that like, oh, you ain't black. You know, Biden said that ridiculously horrible racist comment like if you don't vote Democrat, you're not black. You know, he said those things and. But when you actually get to the, the meat and bones of the what it is to be conservative, small government, an opportunity to build your own stuff, low taxation, those are all things that would be more beneficial to the average black man than it would be an all encompassing open borders, free. All that stuff doesn't help.

[Byron Donalds]

I agree.

[Shawn Harrison]

And it's. But it's not just. And it's any man who, who is chasing the American dream, who pays his taxes, who's trying to move up in the world, small government is the best way to help you enable chasing that American dream. Big government does not help anyone.

[Byron Donalds]

This is why I think the Democrats are in real trouble over the next decade. Because what you're saying, especially about men, is true Black men in America, growing up in New York, everybody was trying to find a way on the grind to make money, put it in their pocket, build something bigger. And you can't do that when the government is taxing you too much. And they have so many rules about every single industry that quite frankly only favors large companies and the rich. Like the more, the more regulations you put on something, it creates a barrier to entry where you have to have so much capital in order to overcome the regulatory burden of government to be able to make it and to really have a sustaining business. And so I think that you're starting to see, and you're going to continue to see men writ large, but I think especially black men are going to become more and more conservative in this country, like open borders. That doesn't help. That doesn't help a poor black kid or a poor Hispanic kid or a

[Shawn Harrison]

poor white kid or any country.

[Byron Donalds]

It doesn't help them. You know, those kind of policies. What. Transgenderism. That really doesn't help. These are the things I think are really going to cause a.

[Shawn Harrison]

That to me is the wildest thing that. That ever made it to Supreme. Supreme Court. I was on the gut feel and I said. They asked me what my thoughts. And I said, I think it's a sad day.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah. That.

[Shawn Harrison]

That had to be a conversation settled in the Supreme Court.

[Byron Donalds]

That's crazy to me.

[Shawn Harrison]

I mean, that's. That was this. And this wasn't new. This is everyone who grew up in any. Any multicultural neighborhood. There was people of all walks, all styles. Everybody had an uncle or an aunt who. It would. This never was an issue. It was always girls play with girls, sports, boys play. This was boys go in the boys room, girl. This was never an issue. And there was just as many actual people that had transgender issues or whatever their deal was, or the gay straight, whatever the thing, or they were a cross. This was all. Had been there before, and it. All of a sudden, it just became this. And I blame the pandemic and I. I blame that. All that time being spent in front of social media, and it just morphed. This. This ignorance. I mean, this just that we had nobody. What is a woman? Like, some of the things that were coming out there, I was just like, how are we allow. How is anybody just. How is this even getting on the air? Like, you know, like, how would anyone look at the dog and be like, oh, we talk. This is a story. We don't know what a woman is. Like, what are you talking? Like, it's just. And it got to the point where. And they used bully tactics to. Where if you said anything. Just the conversation we're having right here. If we would had this conversation two years ago.

[Byron Donalds]

Oh, they were coming at you.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. It would have been all over the place.

[Byron Donalds]

I mean, me personally, I don't care. Come at me.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

You know, like, we'll have it out. Because at this point, I'm old enough where if this doesn't make any sense, I'm not just gonna go along with it. I'm just not. Like, you have to be able to show me in detail why that makes sense. And for the Dems to try to be like they were the party of science, but then to ignore basic human biology and Puberty. That's crazy to me. And so I think what happened was. And this always happens any. Anytime you have something pop up, any issue, there's going to people who are going to get over their skis and they're going to be like, well, I just got to keep running because I have this loud group with me. And then the rest of the country is looking around saying, wait, what? And you need people who are just going to stand up and be like, nah, that's B.S. we're not doing it. No.

[Shawn Harrison]

And like I said, I'm very. I took a lot of heat in the beginning, especially when the pronoun stuff came out, you know, and there was. I was like, oh, you're out of your mind.

[Byron Donalds]

That was crazy.

[Shawn Harrison]

You're absolutely out of your mind. Yeah. And they're like. And I was a. All of a sudden, a terrible father because there was a question asked to me on the show, like, what would happen if your kids demanded that you call them neon pronouns? And I was like, I would get my neon belt, you know, And I was just making a joke.

[Byron Donalds]

Hey, I remember that. And that was funny. And you were right.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. And I was just. And it was just. It cracked me up. And then it was all these groups came after me and I was like, I don't care. I'm not worried about y', all, man. But you know what it is? And because you keep. You mentioned it's grown ass manism. It's like when you become a grown ass man. And I don't speak for women because I'm not one, but everything slows down. And it's just. Does this make sense or does it not? It goes in two boxes.

[Byron Donalds]

That's all it is.

[Shawn Harrison]

And, and I think with maturity, wisdom, plus, you know, coming up, making mistakes, failures, redemption. I think we're both two. Two men who have. Have made mistakes in life, but have the ability to turn those mistakes into success stories. We don't shy away from our past. And that's one of the reasons why I think your political career has. Has skyrocketed so fast, is that you've never shied away from attack. You've taken things head on.

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

I've personally seen you with no cameras on. I think the first time we actually met, you were with your son.

[Byron Donalds]

I was.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yep.

[Byron Donalds]

And.

[Shawn Harrison]

And, and you were doing. You guys. We were on the same show, but at different times.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And I was just watching your interaction with him and everything was about him. You know, when you introduced him, everyone and you came over and you introduced me and I met him, I shook his hand and, and I was like, man, it's, it's. But that stuff never gets talked about. But you are a family first guy.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And, and we never, we always hear about the worst side of our, our community. We never hear about the, the fathers who were in there. Not just, not just leading by example, but also willing to, to stand in the fire and help make changes for other families, for other people in this country to have the same opportunities and to have the same rights. And that's something you're doing every day.

[Byron Donalds]

I grew up, you know, single family, household, single mom. My mom did everything and I know my dad, but he just wasn't there.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

So when I was a kid, the thing I always thought about was, man, I want to make sure.

[Announcer]

And we're live from the living room as Doug eyes up the match. Say spread. He's reaching for the buffalo wing. Perfect. Hang on. What's this? Oh, he's gone for a can of Pepsi too. Incredible. What a finish. Sensational combination. Look at the delight on his face. There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better. Match days deserve Pepsi. Food deserves Pepsi. Grab a pack of Pepsi. Zero sugar for today's match. It's poetry in motion.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm there for my sons and I have three of them. They're getting a little older now. They're 22, 18, and 15. That the 15 year old is the one you met. He's now 6ft tall. He's weightlifting this summer, so he's starting to come into his own. But I always wanted to be like it, present in their lives. That's.

[Shawn Harrison]

You broke the mold. I had to do the same thing.

[Byron Donalds]

I just wanted to be there. And, you know, the big. For me growing up, a lot of the mistakes that I made, dumb, stupid mistakes, you know, is because I think I honestly missed that, that fatherhood, mentorship.

[Shawn Harrison]

You missed that wisdom that is passed down.

[Byron Donalds]

Yes. And there is a wisdom. I bring it to my kids. It's actually funny. We were, we were. I was in the house the other day and I was with my middle son. He's 18. He. He plays Division 2 college basketball. And we were just talking about his training regimen more me just asking him like, hey, so how's it going? He was kind of explaining to me all the stuff that was going on. And, you know, my consultant called me about something and I was like, no, I'll just ignore it. Let it go. And I told my son, I go, the most important thing for A man sometimes is to not respond. Yep. You have to know. You have to know that sometimes people just want to distract you and get you off your goal and your purpose. And the hardest thing to do, especially in this world where you can be on social media in five seconds and clap back at somebody, the hardest thing to do now is to have the discipline to understand what needs a response and just letting all the other stuff go because nobody else cares. They're just trying to get a rise out of you. And they really are doing that to get you off the stride towards your purpose.

[Shawn Harrison]

And also another thing you're doing is one thing to be there, but it's more important to be present and to be like, well, I'm working. I'm in the same room, but I'm more. And I'm not having the conversation about your workout regimen because I'm worried. I'm trying to build a better life.

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

But I see you.

[Byron Donalds]

They see you do it. They see you working.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. And you need to. There needs to be that time when you're like, no, no, no. This is our time.

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

There's no work right now. You're. You're the. I'm here for you. And I think that is the. The struggle and the balance, because at the same time, you are trying to. And there's a lot. As a politician, there's a lot on your plate because you have a lot of responsibilities to your constituents.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

But the most important constituents are the one at home. But that's a tough. That's a tough balance sometimes in terms of making time.

[Byron Donalds]

Mrs. Donalds makes sure I'm at home on Sundays. That's her deal. She was just like, look, I get it. You're running for governor. You're still in Congress. You got all this stuff going on. She's super supportive, you know, wouldn't be in this position without my wife and her support. But she's like, you gonna bring your. You gonna bring Sundays?

[Shawn Harrison]

Sundays is.

[Byron Donalds]

On Sunday is family time. You were gonna be. You gonna be in the House. I was like, all right, got it. And so the last. Really. Almost really the last three years, it's been running six days a week, but you home on Sundays. And so on Sundays, that's the time I really get a chance to spend and just be focused on them without all the other stuff, the distractions. And you get a chance to be

[Shawn Harrison]

normal for a little bit.

[Byron Donalds]

The thing that. And I gotta. I'm probably gonna do it sometime over this weekend. The thing I gotta do, I Want to take my son back in the gym and just go shoot? Because what, what, what? I would. My sons all played basketball, all three. The oldest played football at Holy Cross. He played. He was defensive tackle. He graduated college now, so he's got a job. He's almost off the budget. We're very happy about this. Almost. We working him off.

[Shawn Harrison]

But I'm, I'm dreaming. I got working him off.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm hoping one day, yeah, you got time.

[Shawn Harrison]

But yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

So the biggest thing we would do, I would just take my sons on a Sunday afternoon, go to a local gym, and I would just train them and everything from ball handling to shooting to form and especially when they're young, because you're a kid, you're just like, I just want to do it like this. And I think that's the time where I was able to help them understand that it is the consistency. Doing it the right way consistently over time breeds success.

[Shawn Harrison]

But isn't that the coolest stuff? Because they, they, they so wanna. When they're younger and you. And you take the time to do those things, they, they want to impress you. Yeah, they, they just like, let me do it again, Let me do it again. You know, when recently I was. Because my son plays. My son's 14 and he's 6 4, but he played his, his. We made a deal for football. He's been training for football. He's been training like doing the, the, the workout stuff and. But, you know, no, no on the field until he gets in the high school, which he'll be starting this year. But he's been playing baseball and he ended up being an all star and he's on travel baseball teams and he just was in the Florida State thing. They, they lost the tournament, but they made it to the. I think they would have made it to regionals and then. But going in the batting cages with him and like, you turn this, you do that, you turn and you're giving me all this stuff. But then every time they're successful, they want to do it again.

[Byron Donalds]

They want to do it again.

[Shawn Harrison]

You know, and the same thing with my daughter, like, with. They wanted to dive for swimming, so we're practicing swimming and they're diving and. But they're, they're never tired. Like, you get a little tired after a while, but they're just like. Because they, they are just loving it. And then they want to show you, you know, and my little one, she jumps horses, but she likes to. We like to play catch a lot. We're in the pool and stuff. And she always wants to do spectacular jumps and, you know, hey, dad, watch me do the flip and the dive. And you're like, those things, those moments are. Are so incredible. But also those are the seeds you plant to. When they get older. That is now your. It doesn't matter what's going on. If I said to my son, let's go hit the batting cage.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

Or like, you know, or let's go. Or my daughter like, hey, let's go play catcher or wrestle in the pool or whatever the heck it is, they. They still be like, yeah, let's go do that.

[Byron Donalds]

So, you know what's funny about that? So how old's your oldest?

[Shawn Harrison]

My oldest is 23.

[Byron Donalds]

Okay.

[Announcer]

Okay.

[Shawn Harrison]

So I got 23. 20, 15, 14, 14, and 12.

[Byron Donalds]

Oh, yeah. So check this out. So the craziest part was, for us was the transition from, like, middle school, like, elementary. Middle school age in high school. Because now in high school, it was more like they would still show it to you, but then they're high schoolers.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. They kind of get.

[Byron Donalds]

They get too cool for you. But my son, actually, both of them. And I'll see the third will be the same way. They would still look for you in the crowd.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yep.

[Byron Donalds]

So, like, they'll be doing their thing, and then they'll glance over to see if you're there. And I had to learn as a dad to stop yelling so much from the sidelines. Like, I was that guy that would yell at referees. Like, that's a bad call. What are you doing?

[Shawn Harrison]

Oh, you were that dad. I fight hard not to be that dad.

[Byron Donalds]

Listen, man, it's hard. People think, oh, man, he just does that for sure on Fox News. Oh, no, no, man. I've been calling out referees for. For 18 years in the gym, yelling at them like, what you doing? Are you blind? You can't make that call from that side of the court.

[Shawn Harrison]

Especially basketball games. Oh, my. Basketball is the. Is the most overly refed sport.

[Byron Donalds]

It is.

[Shawn Harrison]

And it is just absolutely insane. I have to catch myself with bad refs.

[Byron Donalds]

Yes, it's overly refed with bad refs. I going to state that for the record.

[Shawn Harrison]

And it's a.

[Byron Donalds]

It's not the refs who ref my kids games. They're great. Those kids are. Those refs are amazing. It's everybody else, but, yeah, I just.

[Shawn Harrison]

I try. I actually. It was a baseball game of the ref. I could tell the umpire it was getting late and it was hot. Yeah. And the strike zone got real wide, and I started going like, Come on, man. I had to literally say to my. You're not going to be that dead. You're going to go take a walk. Because the one thing that being on the road so much and traveling so much, whether for me it was football, wrestling, and then working in Fox in New York, and I don't live in New York, the one thing was when my kids looked, it wasn't just that I was there, that I was locked in.

[Byron Donalds]

Right?

[Shawn Harrison]

So it was always. I always gave a thumbs up.

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

Like whenever I. Because I watch them now and when they turn and look at me, Thumbs up.

[Byron Donalds]

If they look up and they see. They see you on the phone, you've lost them.

[Shawn Harrison]

You've lost them.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And it's like. And it's not on the mom because she's always there. She's allowed to be on her phone because she's there every day.

[Byron Donalds]

She's with you all the time.

[Shawn Harrison]

She's not. But I'm saying she's there, she's present when you are there, your whole focus is them, right? And I wear my hat forward because, you know, you get rec, you know this, people come up to you, they want to say hi and this, that, and always and say, I got my dad hat on.

[Byron Donalds]

I say, hi. Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

But I'm not.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm here to. I'm here to do this. Like, I. I'm here.

[Shawn Harrison]

And they respect that. That's the one time that you don't get flack is when you're like, the star is my daughter jumping, dude. Not my, not me right now, 100%.

[Byron Donalds]

I remember, like, one of the most, one of the coolest moments, my middle son, senior year of high school, and he was kind of a late bloomer. Like, he really, I think, came into his own late junior year in the senior year. And so they're playing in the regional finals and I happen to get home for the game and I like rushed to get out of this town to get home for this game. I was like, I'm not missing this game. I'm going home to watch my son. So I rush home, I get to the game and then the first, the first quarter had already started, so the gym is packed, so I'm just standing on the side and I stood there, watched the whole game. And he played and he kind of glanced at me here, there. And I'm just watching the game. And one guy came up to me, wanted to start talking politics. And I said, sir, listen, I love you, but it's the regional finals. This is my son's last game in this gym. Like I'm, I'm locked in. He respected that and it was. And I appreciate him for that. So the clock is ticking down. My son gets a rebound on the end of the court. They're up six. He dribbles up the sideline, acts like he's going to dunk it, drops it off to their big man. He dunks it. Crowd goes berserk. They're up eight. The buzzer goes. He jumps and is like excited and turns around, sees me, I see him, man, I just walked out on that court, gave him the biggest hug. You get a sense of pride as a father. It's like all the work sometimes, all the arguments, all the stuff that you would do and to watch your child have success, man, you can't not get teary eyed.

[Shawn Harrison]

I get goosebumps because. And that's the one thing. Cause when you're a big hulking dude, like when my daughter won her first, she beat like she won her first at a meter. At a meter. She won first, her first blue championship and one champion for the week. And I remember she was at the podium getting a little thing and I'm like, you know, and, and it was kind of, I was like, you don't understand. Like that's, that is the only award that matters to all your sacrifice.

[Byron Donalds]

That's right.

[Shawn Harrison]

Is your children's success.

[Byron Donalds]

That's right.

[Shawn Harrison]

And, and, and their happiness. And when you see them thrive, it almost, it doesn't make up for it. But it, the sacrifice of not being there every day, it makes it, it kind of evens it out for that day. You still miss them when you're on the road and you wish you could be there and you have times where you're like, is this really the life I need? And everyone, I see the other dads who are there every day, but when you see that them, that they're able to do the work and, and, and not just do it for you, but they're doing it for themselves. And they still can turn and look at you and be like, thanks dad. That there is no award, there's no check that can ever duplicate that.

[Byron Donalds]

But you know what's funny about that? I think your kids, especially when they start getting into teenage years, they have to start taking that responsibility for themselves. And it can't be because you were there watching every step. And I think that in some respects, especially when you're an accomplished man and you're on the road and you have kids and you're really putting in the work for the family and everything that you're doing is to raise the bar, obviously for yourself, but then also for your family. And let's just be honest, your kids benefit from that way more.

[Announcer]

Right?

[Shawn Harrison]

And they echo it.

[Byron Donalds]

They echo it, they see it. And I think that it helps them to understand, all right? Dad was so committed to the craft and to the mission. This is where. This is where it took him.

[Shawn Harrison]

Right.

[Byron Donalds]

I know he loves me because he comes back and he sees me and he checks in on me. And he's not just doing it just to be like, hey. Because kids know when you really afford him.

[Shawn Harrison]

And we even see the parents who were there for the show.

[Byron Donalds]

It is different.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, it's a. It's a different. It's a different thing. And I think.

[Byron Donalds]

But I think it adds to them.

[Shawn Harrison]

I think.

[Byron Donalds]

I think for them, it helps them to understand, okay, this is how I have to conduct myself and handle my business. And I think that does help. It helps as a father on the road a lot like you are, I think it helps you to see that. Those successes, to say, you know what? This is the way God has it for me, but look at my kids.

[Shawn Harrison]

And the other thing that I like is when the times I can't be there is that it doesn't drop off. I'm like, you're able to. To be. Do what you need to do, and you didn't need. You don't need. You know, I'm there now. I'm usually online.

[Announcer]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

With baseball, I had game changers. With swimming, I have the. I have every app.

[Byron Donalds]

You got all those.

[Shawn Harrison]

All the maps, man, I'm watching. I don't miss the games. I would.

[Byron Donalds]

Literally. Some of those apps are bad, though.

[Shawn Harrison]

They're.

[Byron Donalds]

They're not good.

[Shawn Harrison]

I. I listen to a little computer thing. Strike one. You know, my daughter's jump when she's jumping, they have it live. And I. I got to pay, like, 45 bucks. It's ridiculous how expensive. But I have every video, you know, so I can see her jump or my daughter swim. So it's kind of. You like to see their independence because that's. They're not falling apart when you're not there. It's a little shaky because that means they're growing up.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

And they're. They're getting. You know, but you also want that. You don't want. You don't want a bulldozer kid that gets out into the real world and has no scars and bumps and hasn't gone through anything. The difference is that you've guided them through, that you've been there for them when they've had those, they need to have those failures. They need to have those tough days. So when they're an adult and they get hit in the mouth the first time, because, news flash, when you step out in the real world, you get punched in the mouth 100%. And it's not. No one's going to talk about figuratively what you got punched in the mouth with. You're judged by how you get up and how you deal with it.

[Byron Donalds]

I think, because we. Man, we. By the way, this is a great convo because we just been.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, no, hey, I love this.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Byron Donalds]

But I think you mentioned it earlier, you know, the scars of my life, the things to overcome. For me, it was always about, all right, you're 20 now, you messed up enough. Every day you have to be making the right decision to lead to the next day.

[Announcer]

Right.

[Byron Donalds]

And that's really what it became. It was just day in, day out, make sure you're where you're supposed to be, doing what you're supposed to do. Being intentional. That's my wife's word. Being intentional about the things that you.

[Shawn Harrison]

That's a good word. I'm not sure. Steal that.

[Byron Donalds]

No, go ahead, take it from her. You know, but. And then what you end up seeing over time, you know, 27 years later, what you end up seeing is, oh, my gosh, it's just that consistent, focused maturity on whatever the goal is and that consistency, blocking out the noise, blocking out the distractions. But you're right, it's not about, oh, you were on the ground, you were knocked down, you fell into the pit, you were in the valley. It's. Now, what are you going to do in response?

[Announcer]

That's.

[Byron Donalds]

That's the key thing.

[Shawn Harrison]

That is the. And you know what? And I think that's the reason why you're. You're gaining so much momentum is you're just. You can sit down with anyone and have a real conversation. There's no bullshit. And you weren't trying to make points or you segue back to whatever policy you want to run when you're going for, like. And that's. That's refreshing in this day and age, because being genuine and being able to have an actual conversation is a difficult task these days for some. Some people that. That share the same job description that you do. You catch them on a thing and ask them a question, and you get a. I don't even call it a word salad, because that's not fair to salad. You know, it's really not. It's terrible. But I do want to bring up, you know, because DeSantis was, I think did an outstanding job. So the bar is set high and I, I definitely think you're the man for the task. Now I live in Florida and one of the things that, you know, that everyone's excited about is we're hearing a lot of talk about property tax and possibly going away and then what's it? Executive. Executive tax. When you, when you pass away, one of the things I think and why you're still in your current job. I do think that when you pass your. When your time comes and you leave everything for who is supposed to go with. I think it's, it's terrible that some of the taxation, some of the blue states is that like California, I would, I wouldn't buy anything there to leave to my children because they're never going to get it. Because like if you buy a house and you bought the house, let's say, let's say $200,000 and then during the course of the 20 years you own the home, it's increased its value to, you know, the. It's now worth a million dollars. And then you pass away and your kids have to pay the taxes on a million dollars even though you bought the house for 200. Like some of those, some of those designs by big government. And this is why people there. You should be more conservative than you. You realize because this is not a conservative thing. Small government doesn't do this. This is what big government does. That's overspent. And, and they. So they try to make up money and the difference is at the expense of the American people. The original forefathers. And they were young men. It still kills me when I hear. See how young they are when they 20s. 20s. One of them was 21.

[Byron Donalds]

That's right.

[Shawn Harrison]

33, I think was. Franklin was 33 or something like that. Jefferson's 33 or something like that. But they did not intend for this much taxation.

[Byron Donalds]

Oh no.

[Shawn Harrison]

And. And Florida has kind of been always kind of been like they call it the, the free state.

[Byron Donalds]

Yes.

[Shawn Harrison]

And is there anything that you're most focused on because Florida has done a really. You could clean up elections. You guys have the best elections. We do hands down. I mean, California couldn't get a mayor race figured out. They still. Still absolutely ridiculous. You. Florida has very. Has low taxation. The income tax stuff is awesome. What, what is one of the things that you're most focused on that Day when your name is announced.

[Byron Donalds]

And modernization? Well, two really. Modernization, of course, affordability. There's stuff in our insurance markets that there are some regulatory reforms in the property and casualty market that we think can push down insurance rates 10, maybe 20%. So you know, that's substantial. That's substantial. And so there's actually we're going to be doing a policy announcement on that in a couple of weeks. Property taxes. We'll see what happens with the voters. Now it's in the voters hands. If the voters approve it, then we'll go through and implement that. If they don't, next year, under Florida's constitution, the tax and budget commission gets set. So we're going to task the tax and budget commission with studying all taxes and fees in Florida, coming up with solutions for modernizing the system. Another solution for repealing homestead property taxes and how we get there, how we make the math work. And if we can't get there, then how do we take seniors on fixed income and working families off of the property tax rolls in Florida again to hit the affordability piece on the modernization side, it's about state government actually being efficient. Right. Top to bottom. We want to modernize all agencies. We want them to be very efficient and transparent and responsive to the people of Florida. I'll give you an example. I've been talking about this for a year and a half on the trail to permit a new house in the United States of America. 30% of the cost of that new house is government permitting.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, it's absolutely insane.

[Byron Donalds]

30%. So everybody's talking affordability. Say the House is 300,000, $100,000 is government. Not sheetrock, not pipes, not appliances, not lighting, not fixtures, not a roof. Government. So we need to actually modernize all these operations to shrink those time, to shrink the timelines down. The longer it takes to construct the project, the more expensive the project is. The developer's not paying that, the contractor's not paying. The end user does. Yeah, the consumer, the small business does, the mom and dad, they do. So we want to modernize our government to drive efficiencies, drive costs down. I think for government going forward, it's about efficiency. If you cannot drive efficiencies, your budgets are going to be out of control. If your budgets are out of control, you're not going to be able to deliver services the way they need to be delivered. And you know, so those are the two big things in terms of where we are. The foundation being Left by Ron DeSantis, best governor in the country, Based on common sense, conservatism, law and order, liberty, freedoms, protections of constitutional rights. All of that's going to remain in place. But we got to get more efficient. We got to become more modern as how we operate as a state. And in the great side of Florida, man, we're the best state. Everybody wants to come to Florida.

[Shawn Harrison]

Everybody, literally now, literally everyone wants to come. And I'm like, keep your voting. Leave your voting habits in California.

[Byron Donalds]

Say it again, please.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, don't say it again. Don't californicate. Florida.

[Byron Donalds]

California. No. The biggest thing. So when Covid happened in Florida, we were concerned because so many people were coming so fast. And I was asked, they go, are you concerned that people coming from the Northeast are gonna bring their voting habits? And I said, no. And they were like, why? And I said, because they're leaving New York for a reason. They're not just leaving because they got a job in Florida, so you keep your voting habits. They're leaving because they're like, this is so crazy. They experienced it, and they don't want that, and they want Florida. And so now it's about making sure that as people continue to come, they understand you're coming here for how we do our business, and we're not changing our business to be what you left.

[Shawn Harrison]

Right.

[Byron Donalds]

This is Florida. And there's a reason why people are choosing us. They're choosing Texas. They're choosing Tennessee, because New York, Illinois, California, Virginia. All the big. They done lost their mind.

[Shawn Harrison]

Well, it's also. It's also amazing that that's also where the most fraud is.

[Byron Donalds]

Yep.

[Shawn Harrison]

You know, and that's one thing. You're on quite a few oversight committees, and Florida has done. And unfortunately, every state, there's always somebody trying to. I think the. I think the fitness industry probably. I think Florida was probably, you know, the steroid scandals and like, things like that and like.

[Byron Donalds]

Opioids. Opioids stuff.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. I think a lot of that had to do. It was a. Was prominent in Florida, but it was cracked down on.

[Byron Donalds]

Yep.

[Shawn Harrison]

Extremely. When you're looking at. Across the board and when you see other. Like you see a place like Minnesota where because you did something interesting and I don't know if you realized that you. I think you're one of the first. Definitely one of the first politicians that I've ever spoke to. When I asked about what you would do different, not to quote the View, you wasn't. You weren't worried about party lines. You weren't worried about. I have to make sure that Everything that you. You said DeSantis did great things, and here's what I want to improve, and here's what I want to keep going. So you. You were about the job. You weren't about the party, and that's. You just don't hear that anymore.

[Byron Donalds]

You know what's funny about that?

[Shawn Harrison]

Because you're not throwing shade to him at all.

[Byron Donalds]

No, no, no.

[Shawn Harrison]

You're just saying that he has set the table, but there's still stuff in the oven that need to be prepared.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah. I mean, look, first of all, the bandwidth for anybody who's a governor or even a president, for all the things you want to do, the bandwidth of what you fully can get done sometimes is limited for a lot of different things. There's also the things that come across that you didn't account for.

[Shawn Harrison]

Right.

[Byron Donalds]

I remember when Ron Desantis was then Congressman DeSantis, and he was running at that time. It was 2018. Nobody knew a pandemic was coming.

[Shawn Harrison]

No.

[Byron Donalds]

Now, I think it defined his leadership.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. Because I think he had a Giuliani type.

[Byron Donalds]

Yes, he did.

[Shawn Harrison]

Response.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, he absolutely did. And I think that's why so many people call him America's governor today, because of his response then. But there's always things that you have to do. I always say. I know you're a Celtics fan. I always say Florida right now, we're the 92 Bulls.

[Shawn Harrison]

Listen.

[Byron Donalds]

Where the 90s. No.

[Shawn Harrison]

1 couldn't. Reggie Lewis was my favorite player then. Ed Pinkney.

[Byron Donalds]

Reggie Lewis was great. Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

Rest his soul.

[Byron Donalds]

But.

[Shawn Harrison]

But when Jordan came, I was. You hated him because. You hated him because he wasn't on your team.

[Byron Donalds]

They were the Bulls.

[Shawn Harrison]

He was the reason why Ewing and Malone, Clyde to Glide. None of Charles. None of those dudes got chips because AJ Said no.

[Byron Donalds]

Gary Payton.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah. All of them. Like Sean Kemp.

[Byron Donalds]

Sean Kemp.

[Shawn Harrison]

The Cavs. Like, I mean, the list goes on.

[Byron Donalds]

Ron Harper then became smart, and he

[Shawn Harrison]

got three, and it. And everyone who played with him when they left didn't really.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

Like, that's why he's the goat. And I have no problem saying that. And I. You know, he's the goat. We had. We had Bird and we had Mikhail, and the Lakers had Magic and Cleveland and Lakers had LeBron. Miami had LeBron, but he was the king maker. And there's a lot of guys who they a. There was no argument from his peers.

[Byron Donalds]

Don't forget Kobe and Shaq.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey. But we at least got them once.

[Byron Donalds]

But with Florida. Yeah, but with Florida, I would Tell you, our big thing is we're in that position today. It's. But it's not about celebrating where you are today. It's really about how do you get from the 92 bulls to the 98 bulls.

[Shawn Harrison]

Right.

[Byron Donalds]

And so my job as governor is to make sure that we're on that trajectory so that we keep winning, we remain number one, we keep adding to our economy. Now we're on track. We're going to be the major financial hub in the Western hemisphere, if not the world. In Florida, we're going to lead the Western Hemisphere, definitely the United States in commercial space at Cape Canaveral. They're going to be doing a thousand launches out of Cape Canaveral in a couple of years. And so I'm already having conversations now with industry about who's going to go where. What other assets does Florida have that we could take advantage of? Aerospace, defense tech, Drone technology is so huge now and only going to get better. Well, we can do a lot of that testing in Florida, so why not manufacture in Florida? Like, these are the things that we're looking at. And then growth. I mean, look, we're 23.5 million people. There are a lot of Floridians who are starting to get frustrated about growth, traffic, etc. So we have to manage that growth, manage how we build out infrastructure while also keeping our ag lands and the beauty of Florida, which is why it's drawn so many people to our state. And so there's still a lot of work to do, even though we're the best state in America. And Ron DeSantis has done a tremendous job and I give him full credit for all the work that he's done leading our state. But we're a term limited state, so people come for good reason. And I think it's a good thing that we're term limited. And now it's a response my responsibility to keep us going.

[Shawn Harrison]

And again, you know what, we didn't even get into it because we were talking about everything else. But your mom was school choice before it was cool to be school choice.

[Byron Donalds]

She was.

[Shawn Harrison]

And you're a big proponent on education, obviously, so I don't even think we even go into that. I think that's just happens.

[Byron Donalds]

The only thing I would add is the K12 system can't be just a conduit to colleges and universities.

[Shawn Harrison]

No, no.

[Byron Donalds]

We have to re embrace workforce education.

[Shawn Harrison]

We gotta bring trade schools back.

[Byron Donalds]

Kids getting apprenticeships and internships while they're in high school so that they can walk, they can graduate high school and go directly into a job. A lot of business owners in Florida, quite frankly in the country, they didn't go to college or they dropped out.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yep. You know what's funny is most people don't know, due to what the world sees of college, that young kids today want to be in the trades because they're seeing. College, unfortunately has not. Is become something. It's not. It's changed. When I went to school, and admittedly I went because I wanted to play football at the next level, but even there I had to work, you know, and I got my teaching degree. But like, it was like one of those you had. You went to school to get something, and then all of a sudden it changed to where you went to school to be in doctorate and get degrees that you can't. Aren't worth the paper they're printed on. No one has a gender studies degree that's winning. I'm just. I'm just being real with you. There's.

[Byron Donalds]

There's. You're right, though. Nobody does.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

No, there was like. Like history. Art history degree, I think was the one degree I saw. And I was like, we're gonna work in a museum. Is there that many museums in the country to where you need to have a degree?

[Byron Donalds]

There's only like 5 degrees that really put money on the table.

[Shawn Harrison]

Exactly.

[Byron Donalds]

About five or six.

[Shawn Harrison]

And I think America got into the. The to where that they put that stigmatism. And I know you grew up with it, like, if you didn't go to college, you weren't anything.

[Byron Donalds]

Yeah, that's. But that's our age.

[Shawn Harrison]

Yeah, our age group is. I was the first guy in my family to go and graduate from college. Like, it was a bad. Like. Okay. But I'm also the first person who's in debt. You know, it's like they. But that was pushed upon us so much. And then now you're seeing a turn because I was. I'll let you go here in a minute, but I was interviewing Lawrence Taylor and who I think is the greatest football player to ever put on a pair of cleats. And he had brought his grandson with him. And his grandson was getting. I think he. He's playing North Carolina. He's. He plays free safety and was at the super bowl when the Eagles murdered the Chiefs and was talking to him, and I asked him, like, what's his aspirations? Obviously, you know, those are big shoes to fill. That shadow's pretty.

[Announcer]

Right?

[Byron Donalds]

Right.

[Shawn Harrison]

And he was like, well, I already. I'm an electrician. I Got my electrician license. And, And I went. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? And he's like, yeah, I'm playing ball and I'm going to school, but I gotta trade first. So if, you know. And I was like. And I was supposed to be talking to his grandpa, but I said, would it be okay if we brought your grandson up on the table? Because this I want to talk about, right? Because it's amazing, right? You know, and it was like. And he was like, yeah. I mean, he, if things don't work out, or even when they do work

[Byron Donalds]

out, I can still. Because I'm not going to do it forever.

[Shawn Harrison]

No. And that's the big A, I'm telling you. Even when you, when you get a lot of money quick in a short amount of time when you're young, it's hard to stretch that out. Especially when you don't understand the tax game. Especially you don't understand how much everyone takes from you. The worst mistake young, young men do is they want to buy their mama a house. And like, can you afford the mortgage?

[Byron Donalds]

Thank you.

[Shawn Harrison]

You know, but unfortunately, a lot of guys learn the hard way, but I was just so impressed with that. But I think there is a good, a, a resurgence of wanting to see trade schools. And I, I think Florida will be on the cusp of that. I know Glenn Jacobs and, and the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. He's really pushing the trade school in, in Tennessee's and we, because there are so many jobs, there's, I think Mike Rose said there was over a million jobs, jobs opening for plumbers all around the country. Like, it's just unbelievable. But those things are like, you, you do that work, you get it back, and once it's yours, it's yours, it's yours.

[Byron Donalds]

And you can build off of that. I mean, you can really build something beautiful out of that. I mean, you have kids coming out. I was with a bunch of auto dealers. These guys are like, we need auto mechanics. They can come out making 80, 90, 100 coming out of high school. Yeah. And you're just like, what? Really? And I go, yeah. And it's, and it's one of those deals I worked at Arby's you could do.

[Shawn Harrison]

And, and it lasts long.

[Byron Donalds]

But hold on, time out. I got a question. Lt is the greatest football player over. Tom Brady.

[Shawn Harrison]

I'm just asking the question because I, I think I was asking. The quarterbacks need so much. Tom Brady without a good old line. We never heard about him. He's leaf. You know what I'm saying, like, there's certain the quarterback position. I'm sorry, but like, the quarterback is only as great. We saw what happened to Mahomes when the O line didn't show up in the Super Bowl. He was getting.

[Byron Donalds]

He was running for his life.

[Announcer]

Yeah.

[Shawn Harrison]

He didn't look very cool, did he?

[Byron Donalds]

He was running for his life.

[Shawn Harrison]

Lt. There was nothing you could do about it. Whoever you. You had to put, you had to change the game.

[Byron Donalds]

They did have to change the game for him.

[Shawn Harrison]

And I think when you have to change the game for someone to where old lineman would look at their retirement papers the night before, like, you know, like, oh, I think Miami, like he changed the game and I think that's why I always. He's the best pure football player. Best by position. Quarterback gets all the glam because he throws. You know, receiver catches, he throws, but everybody forgets he's not getting that ball anywhere. If those five get the guys in front of him up front, they don't keep him safe. And, and, and so that's the, that's the difference. Now, of course, every quarterback and every sports analyst be like, what are you talking about? Like, no, no, no. LT was, he changed the game. Everyone, it was like the same thing. When, when MJ walked in the room, all the stars looked.

[Byron Donalds]

When LT walked in the room, they still do it.

[Shawn Harrison]

Like, that's the thing about. And I wasn't a Giants fan, but I was a Patriots fan and my favorite play was Bruce Armstrong and he was old tackle and. But even to this day, we still talk about him like he played last year.

[Byron Donalds]

That's. That is true.

[Shawn Harrison]

And that's why I tell.

[Byron Donalds]

It's. Lt you all right? Okay.

[Shawn Harrison]

That's my argument.

[Byron Donalds]

I'm just asking because I heard you say it.

[Shawn Harrison]

I was like, but I'll back it up. I'm just saying.

[Byron Donalds]

I just. All I wanted to know. Yeah, I just want to hear the facts, man.

[Shawn Harrison]

Thank you so much, brother, and best of luck. I don't think you need it, but thanks, man. Looking forward to the next time we do this and good luck to your son and his basketball season this year.

[Byron Donalds]

Thanks. Appreciate you.