‘DEI Hire’? Kamala Harris Attacked by GOP Critics Over Her Race, Gender

Some Republicans are now trying to focus their attention on Vice President Kamala Harris, now that she has suddenly become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and has breathed new life into the Democratic Party.

Some have ridiculed her laugh. Some have ridiculed her dancing. (Harris’ campaign has embraced this as a positive, as have countless supportive memes like “brat summer,” which have garnered a strong response.) And Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett accused her of being a “DEI vice president” on social media and then a “DEI hire” in a CNN interview, suggesting that the former California district attorney, attorney general, and U.S. senator was elected to VP solely because of identity politics, not merit.

“She is 100 percent a DEI hire,” he said.

“When you hear DEI, I want you to think of the N-word,” Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat and the youngest member of Congress, told CNN in an interview Tuesday. “I want you to think of racial slurs. That’s what they actually mean.”

On Wednesday on SiriusXM’s “The Laura Coates Show,” Burchett said he regretted what he said, but doubled down on his words. “Do I wish I had said it? No, but it was the truth,” he said.

Harris has also been called a DEI hire by conservative talk show host Charlie Kirk, FOX Business host Larry Kudlow, Fox News host Jesse Watters, Wyoming Representative Harriet Hagemanformer Trump official Sebastian Gorka and Utah Rep. Burgess Owens (who is Black) who told Punchbowl News that Harris is “the best example of DEI.”

Politico reported that Republican Party leaders in the House of Representatives told party members in a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that they should focus on Harris’s past rather than her race or gender.

“Her ethnicity and her gender have nothing to do with this,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference that same day. “This is about who can take care of the American people and get us out of the mess that we’re in.”

DEI is the latest talking point in the fight against “woke” culture among conservative politicians and commentators, and a particular target for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

What is DEI?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a term used to describe programs and policies that promote the representation and participation of diverse groups of people of all genders, races and ethnicities, abilities and disabilities, religions, cultures, ages, and sexual orientations.

DEI programs in business aim to ensure that everyone — especially groups that have been historically underrepresented or discriminated against — is treated fairly and that differences are embraced to improve relationships and teamwork and increase cultural sensitivity. In education, DEI typically refers to strategies, policies, and practices that provide all students with equal access to educational opportunities, regardless of their background, identity, or abilities.

“Companies that are diverse, equitable and inclusive can better respond to challenges, attract top talent and meet the needs of diverse customer groups,” according to multinational consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

DEI programs grew out of the affirmative action policies introduced during the civil rights movement to address historic and ongoing discrimination based on race, gender, and disability. Their popularity exploded during the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, particularly after the killing of George Floyd.

Critics argue that DEI programs prioritize minorities, thereby excluding more qualified applicants. They are treated as anti-white, anti-male, ideologically driven “woke” discrimination. Some even argue that they contribute to anti-Semitism.

The anti-woke backlash of recent years, particularly last year after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action admissions policies, has led to the elimination of DEI programs at many public universities. Some companies have cut their DEI education programs, though most companies surveyed said they would keep them. Conservative activists have filed a growing number of lawsuits calling for “colorblindness” in the workplace.

What is a DEI lease?

The term DEI hiring is a shortened version of “diversity hire,” a pejorative term implying that someone is hired solely to meet a quota or check a box in a DEI program, and not based on his or her own merit.

“Intellectually, this is just rock bottom,” said Rep. Hageman said Tuesday about Harris. “I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that’s what we’re seeing, and I just don’t think they have anyone else.”

Burchett said in the CNN interview that President Joe Biden himself had said Harris was a DEI hire.

“Biden said — first of all, he said he would hire a black woman as vice president and he didn’t, he just skipped over it,” Burchett told correspondent Manu Raju. “What about white women? What about other groups? When you go that route, you get mediocrity. And that’s what they have as vice president.”

“Unfortunately, it has become common for some conservatives to attempt to discredit, demoralize, and disrespect leaders of color by labeling them as ‘diversity assets’ — or otherwise misuse the language of diversity, equity, and inclusion as thinly veiled racial slurs,” Mita Mallick, author of “Reimagine Inclusion” who leads DEI at Carta, wrote in Fast Company.

DeSantis vs. DEI

Ron DeSantis Cuts DEI Funding at Florida State Universities

Governor Ron DeSantis declared that “the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end” and signed new legislation targeting state universities.

Claire Hardwick, USA TODAY

The Republican Party has weaponized the backlash against DEI, blaming efforts to create a more inclusive and equitable environment for everything from airline safety issues to global technology failures to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

But few have taken it as directly as Ron DeSantis.

“What this bill says is that some of these niche subjects like critical race theory, other kinds of DEI-inspired courses and majors,” DeSantis said in 2023 when he signed legislation to ban state or federal funding for any state university programs that “advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.”

“Florida is getting out of that game,” he said. “You want to do things like gender ideology? Go to Berkeley. Go to some of these other places.”

Universities and colleges in the state have cut programs and staff positions in response, though some have resisted. Students and staff have protested, with many critics saying the rightward push has hurt Florida’s higher education system and caused a brain drain as graduates choose to go to school elsewhere.

“As a student, UF has a lot of things that I’m really consistently impressed by,” said Amiya Gupta, a fourth-year engineering student at the University of Florida. “I think we have a lot of resources. I’ve always thought this has been a great university in terms of academia, research, and community. But I think this is symptomatic of a larger problem in Florida politics, because I think universities have historically been places of community building and showing the importance of bringing in broad and diverse perspectives — not just diverse in terms of race or personal characteristics — but also in terms of thoughts and ideas.

“And I think the politicians in Florida are doing everything they can to infiltrate that,” she said.

DeSantis has waged war on racially biased programs in Florida for years. The 2022 Stop WOKE Act limited discussion of race, gender and other topics in the state university’s classrooms, but also banned diversity practices and training that could make employees feel “personally responsible” for past actions committed by someone of “the same race, color, sex or national origin.”

After the liberal arts college New College of Florida in Sarasota underwent a hostile takeover with an eye to transforming it into an experimental higher education in conservation, new administrators appointed by DeSantis abolished the school’s DEI office.

In May, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that the state would investigate Starbucks over its diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which purports to be a conservative road map for a second Donald Trump presidency, praises Florida and DeSantis for his fight to empower parents and end diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and in education. The project’s plans for education mirror many of DeSantis’s initiatives in the state.

Trump has publicly withdrawn from Project 2025 amid backlash over its extreme plans, saying he has nothing to do with it, despite the fact that many people from Trump’s former administration and current circle are involved.