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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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Republicans are labeling Kamala Harris a "DEI hire" following her endorsement by Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president.
DEI, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion, refers to initiatives aimed at addressing discrimination against historically marginalized groups in schools, businesses and government agencies.
The DEI rhetoric stems from a core Republican belief that society is overly focused on the issues of race, gender and sexuality. The term is increasingly used to criticize and question the appointment or qualifications of women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals and other traditionally marginalized groups in positions of authority.
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As the U.S. faces the prospect of its first female Black president, the term is now being weaponized against Harris. She is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father and is the first multiracial and female vice president. If elected, she would become the first female president.
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In a 2020 debate, Biden stated he would "pick a woman to be vice president," without specifying her race. In a later interview with ABC News, Biden said he "didn't feel pressure to select a Black woman." In another 2020 interview with MSNBC, Biden mentioned that among his potential running mates were four Black women.
Before becoming vice president, Harris served as a U.S. senator for four years and as California's attorney general for six years. She had previously served as San Francisco's district attorney and earned her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
On Tuesday, House GOP leaders instructed lawmakers to focus on criticizing Harris' record without mentioning her race and gender after several Republicans claimed that Harris was a "DEI hire."
Which Republicans have called Kamala Harris a DEI hire?
Rep. Tim Burchett
Republican Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett blasted Harris in a social media post on Monday, calling her a "DEI vice president."
"The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president," Burchett said on X.
He referred to Harris as a "a DEI hire" again in a brief interview on the same day with CNN in which he referenced Biden's 2020 comments about picking a vice president, claiming that the 81-year-old said "he was going to hire a Black female for vice president."
"What about white females? What about any other group?" Burchett added.
In an interview with Newsmax this month, Burchett also used the DEI term against Harris.
"When I hear her talk, I just scratch my head and think this is what DEI is really about," he said. "It clearly is. She checks all the boxes. She'll say she's of Indian descent one day, then she'll say she's of Black descent. It's just box-checking."
Harris is not the only woman whom Burchett has used the DEI term to describe. At a House committee hearing on Monday about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, he told the now former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle: "You are a DEI horror story."
Conservatives have widely accused Cheatle, a 27-year veteran of the agency, of being unqualified for the top job and said female agents on Trump's Secret Service team were physically incapable of protecting him.
Rep. Glenn Grothman
During an interview with CBS58 this weekend, Wisconsin representative Grothman questioned if Democrats are sticking by Harris "because of her ethnic background."
"I know there's some Democrats who don't like her," said Grothman when asked about Harris. "Apparently, they feel, or a lot of Democrats feel, they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background."
Rep. Harriet Hageman
Rep. Harriet Hageman became the third GOP lawmaker to refer to Harris as a DEI hire in the last few days.
"Well, I think she's one of the weakest candidates I've ever seen in the history of our country. Intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel," the Wyoming representative said in a TV interview when asked about Harris' candidacy.
"And from the standpoint of just who she is and the policies, the positions that she's taken, her failure to do anything in terms of the border, that sort of thing, I think it's just a failure from top to bottom," she added. "I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that's what we're seeing and I just don't think that they have anybody else."
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