Transcript: Rep. Byron Donalds on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Aug. 23, 2026

The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Byron Donalds, Republican of Florida and candidate for Florida governor, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 23, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Florida Republican Congressman Byron Donalds. He's also now his party's gubernatorial nominee in the Sunshine State. Welcome to Face the Nation.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you're a sitting congressman, but this job that you are running for would make you the chief executive of the third largest state in the country, so you'll have a lot of decision-making power over a number of things, including health policy. And I want to ask you about that because Florida has been at the forefront of this push to roll back vaccine mandates. In your state, the Department of Health can change some others, like polio and MMR vaccines, are mandated under Florida law. If you're elected, are you going to go to the Department of Health and the state legislature and ask for repeals? If so, which ones?

REP BYRON DONALDS: Well, first of all, Margaret, it's good to be with you. Number one, I know that Governor DeSantis and and our Surgeon General Dr. Ladapo have already made moves on the rulemaking vaccines, the one, and put those under essentially giving parents the ability to make those decisions for their children. I agree with that decision. When it comes to polio, MMR, those are things that we want to make sure we study and really engage in before we make those determinations and work with the legislature before we make any of those decisions about requirements for those vaccines. I think it's important also to note that President Trump did allow for expansion and, really, quite frankly, reversing the concentration around the vaccine schedule. I know that my oldest son, he's 22 years old. The vaccination schedule for him was very different for kids today, and so spreading out that vaccination schedule, I think, does make sense. It gives an infant human body the ability to actually absorb and deal with that that rate of vaccination. But if we're going to talk healthcare, the bigger issue we have in the state of Florida is costs. And number one, the Affordable Care Act is not working for Floridians. We have seen premiums jump over the last 15 years since it passed. Deductibles—out of control for the last 15 years, and so the current structure of health insurance in our country under the Affordable Care Act is not working is not working for families, whether it's Florida or anywhere else in the United States. This is why my proposal is price transparency. We want doctors' offices and hospitals to post a real cash price for the top 20 services that they provide. So Floridians have an opportunity to see the real price, see the real cost, and make determinations about where they get their health care. I think that's much more of a constructive conversation about costs in healthcare and trying to stabilize prices than just simply vaccinations.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, but that also doesn't address coverage for them or how they pay for them. But I hear you. I'm sure a lot of people would like to know what they're paying.