MAGA Rep. Byron Donalds is drawing mockery after an embarrassing spelling error undermined his speech on the importance of literacy.
The 47-year-old congressman, who is running for Florida governor, unveiled his “Read to Succeed” plan to boost childhood literacy in the state on Saturday, declaring from a podium, “Our kids have to be prepared to hit the ground running on day one, and being able to master reading is at the core of that.”
Unfortunately for Donalds, the podium he was standing behind carried an ironic typo, reading, “Read to succeed; achieveability”—misspelling the word “achievability.”
The blunder was met with a wave of ridicule.
“‘Achieveability’ is actually in red letters! Underlined!” radio host Charlamagne tha God said on his show while dubbing Donalds “Donkey of the Day.”
“If you are running for governor of anywhere in this country and you have a literacy program called ‘Read to Succeed,’ then someone on your team needs to read what is on the signage that is placed in front of you, OK?” the radio host said.
Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote, “Veep level s--t,” referencing HBO’s political satire starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Donalds’ opponent in the gubernatorial race, James Fishback, seized upon the error with gusto, making multiple social media posts ridiculing the congressman for the error.
“All that AIPAC money and @ByronDonalds can’t spell ‘achievability,’” Fishback wrote on X.
Reposting a video of Donalds speaking from the podium behind the sign, Fishback wrote, “After we win, we’re sending @ByronDonalds to the Quality Learing Center,” a reference to the Minnesota daycare provider accused of misusing government funds in a viral YouTube Video. It is unclear if Fishback’s own spelling error was deliberate.
Continuing to mock Donalds, Fishback wrote in another post, “Byron Donalds: ‘Our kids need to be prepared to hit the ground running.’ Also Byron Donalds: I can’t spell ‘achievability.’”
Quoting a post from the Libertarian Party of Florida asking if candidates should have to pass a 5th-grade spelling test before running for governor, Fishback said, “They should!”
In another post, Fishback posted a video in which he walked Donalds through the spelling of “achievability,” and told his opponent, “If you want to address the literacy crisis that is plaguing our state all over, you’ve got to be able to spell.”
“Hey @ByronDonalds, you can’t fix the literacy crisis facing our kids, if you can’t spell,” Fishback wrote.
The Daily Beast has contacted Donalds’ office for comment.
After a failed congressional campaign in 2012 as part of the Tea Party movement, Donalds was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016. He successfully ran for Congress in 2020, when he was elected to represent Florida’s 19th district after describing himself as a “Trump-supporting, gun-owning, liberty-loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man” during the campaign.
Donalds has been endorsed by President Donald Trump for Florida governor and, according to a poll conducted earlier this month, is leading the pack in the Republican primary with 54 percent of the vote, 46 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Fishback, who is polling at just 8 percent.
The Republican primary will take place on Aug. 18 before the gubernatorial election on Nov. 3. Republicans have won every gubernatorial election in Florida since 1998; incumbent governor Ron DeSantis, who assumed office in 2019, is an ally of President Trump.
