Governor hopeful Byron Donalds denounces rise of 'woke right' in speech

His comments came after online investor James Fishback announced his plans to join Florida’s gubernatorial race and attacked Donalds online.

Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds denounced the wing of his party he claims is threatening to “co-opt the conservative movement” during a speech at a Miami-Dade GOP fundraiser this week, after an anti-immigration candidate started teasing a primary run against him in Florida’s gubernatorial race.

“Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there is this strain going on on the right — they’re calling it the ‘woke right,’” U.S. Rep. Donalds said Tuesday. “There’s some strain going on that’s now saying, ‘Not just no illegal immigration, but no legal immigration.’”

His comments during the annual Miami Dade GOP Lincoln Day Dinner came one day after the relatively unknown, very online investor and debate tournament founder James Fishback, 30, announced his plans to join Florida’s gubernatorial race and attacked Donalds online.

Fishback, whose mother is an immigrant from Colombia, told the Herald his “hardline anti-immigration platform” is to the right of President Donald Trump. He is opposed to all immigration, including work visas, which he thinks promote a “great replacement of American workers,” echoing theories promoted by white supremacists.

Donalds’ comments in Miami point to the coming intra-party battle in Florida on how Republicans talk about race, immigration and bigotry during a second Trump term defined by mass deportation — and come amid a broader Republican battle over white nationalists emboldened by the Trump administration.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/11/13/byron-donalds-governor-2026-fishback-woke-right/

Fishback must really hate his mother.