Politicians and other X users shared a manipulated clip appearing to show U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the leading Republican candidate in the Florida gubernatorial race, supporting insider trading as a way to live with luxury.
Chris Nelson, a conservative activist and writer, shared the video on X with the caption, “Byron Donalds says insider trading should ABSOLUTELY BE ALLOWED for members of Congress.” The post got thousands of shares.
In the video, Donalds appeared to say:
“Insider trading should absolutely be allowed for members of Congress. Look, the salary, it doesn’t cut it anymore. If I happen to make millions because I’m privy to sensitive government information, well, that’s called initiative. The American people want leaders who know how to capitalize on opportunity. That’s leadership. I want a bigger house. I want to drive a Bentley. I want investment properties in Miami and Aspen.”
Former Florida state Sen. Paula Dockery, who left the Republican Party in 2017 and Democratic Tennessee state Sen. Heidi Campbell shared it. Campbell’s post is now unavailable.
But Donalds didn’t say that. It’s a fake video, altered from a real CBN News interview on May 8.
A Donalds spokesperson said the video involved artificial intelligence and did not reflect the congressman’s words.
This is what Donalds really said:
“You know, my mother, she has three children. I’m the middle child. My parents never married, just, they ain’t come together, whatever happened between my parents. But my mom just did everything that she could. She really believed in me, believed in, really, my abilities, thought education was gonna be key for my success. And so for her, there was no stone that was to be left unturned for me to be successful in life.”
The first instance of the video that PolitiFact found came from an X account with 21 followers that regularly posts deepfakes of Donalds. Within minutes of the account sharing the deepfake of Donalds talking about insider trading, Nelson re-shared it.
When we contacted Nelson about our findings, he said, “It looks real to me and it rings true about Byron’s beliefs on insider trading.”
When people commented on Nelson’s post that the video involved AI, he replied with what read like sarcasm, saying, “No way!!” and “Byron would never be this honest in real life.” Nelson ran for Fort Lauderdale mayor in 2024 and dropped out.
Donalds spoke about insider trading in 2025, saying he doesn’t trade securities, but has a broker with trading authority. He said he supports banning Congress members and their families from initiating trades, but members should be allowed to have brokers who trade on their behalf. He made similar comments in December 2025, saying he has always opposed congressional trading, adding, “I think you do have to make an allowance for members who give third-party authorization to a financial professional.”
In 2024, the Campaign Legal Center filed an ethics complaint alleging that Donalds violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act by failing to properly disclose stock trades amounting to $1.6 million. A spokesperson told Business Insider that Donalds did not directly make those trades, and that he was “working to reconcile any outstanding infractions.”
The video doesn’t show Donalds saying “insider trading should absolutely be allowed for members of Congress” because he wants to own a bigger house and a Bentley. We rate that claim Pants on Fire!
This story originally appeared on PolitiFact
