Speaker Johnson distances himself from Republicans calling VP Harris a DEI hire

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., distanced himself from House Republicans who called Vice President Kamala Harris a diversity, equity and inclusion hire. Johnson instead said the election is about policies, not personalities.

“This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever," Johnson told reporters . "This is about who can deliver for the American people and get us out of the mess that we’re in. Every area of public policy is a disaster because the Biden-Harris administration made it that way. That’s what this election is about.”

Multiple Republicans have said Harris is in the administration to fulfill DEI goals.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., called Harris a “ DEI hire ,” while, Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, said she is “the greatest example of DEI.”

Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said Democrats “have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.”

Democrats strongly criticized those remarks and said Harris is highly qualified.

“Whenever you hear DEI, I want you to think about the N-word, I want you to think about racial slurs, that’s what they actually mean,” Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said on CNN.

Republicans strongly oppose DEI. They have introduced bills to ban DEI programs in the federal government , in pension investments, K-12 schools and more. While Johnson is not using that language, Republicans who said it are not changing their tune.

“If you just quote the president of the United States — ‘diversity, equity, inclusion are the core strengths of America. It starts at the top with the vice president,’" Burchett said. "That was Joe Biden. So why aren't you sticking a mic in his face today? I'm not trying to be a jerk. But the question is, I'm just quoting him."

"If she was a senator, a state attorney general and a prosecutor, and she's entirely qualified, why does it matter if the color of her skin was also a consideration in choosing her?" Straight Arrow News asked.

“I didn't say that," Burchett responded. "She's done a terrible job as vice president. She was our border czar and look what we got: 14 million illegals over the border, Chinese communists — 100,000 there — terrorists have been on the border, they've been captured, been released. That's her qualifications right there. Just look at them and they're terrible. It could cost this country a lot of people. A lot of people been raped and murdered and kidnapped because of those illegals and because of her inability to do what she said she was gonna do.”

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