Republican leadership worries about alienating members of their own party who identify as people of color or women if attacks against Harris remain focused on race and gender.
Election Grows Closer, Republicans Grow Anxious
With fewer than one hundred days until the presidential election, Republicans are scrambling to push a political strategy that criticizes Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris for her policies, not her identity.
Racism and Sexism Thrown at Harris
Racist and sexist attacks from voters and Congress members alike have been dominating headlines since Harris announced her intention to run in President Biden’s place, prompting concern from some Republicans that the issues are getting lost in the clutter.
Harris Is a “DEI Hire,” According to Congressional Republicans
Representatives Harriet Hageman of Wyoming and Tim Burchett of Tennessee have both recently garnered national attention for calling Harris a “DEI hire,” a term that is widely considered to be a conservative dog whistle.
Why “DEI Hire” Is Racist
The term “DEI hire” as an insult is meant to suggest that someone’s position as a marginalized individual, whether because of their race, gender, disability, or sexuality, is the only reason they are given a job or placed in a position of power.
McCarthy Weighs In
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy told NBC that Trump’s campaign should focus on the issues and steer clear of “DEI” comments.
“Totally Stupid and Dumb”
McCarthy said he considers “the DEI attack” to be “totally stupid and dumb.”
“These Congressmen…They’re Wrong”
“Look, I disagree with DEI, but [Harris] is the Vice President of the United States, she is the former U.S. Senator. These congressmen that are saying it, they’re wrong,” McCarthy said.
“Policies, Not Personalities”
Current House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed a similar sentiment, saying the election should “be about policies, not personalities.”
“Her Ethnicity or Her Gender Have Nothing to Do With This”
“This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” said Johnson. “Her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
Harris Is to Blame For What “Got Us Into This Mess”
“She is the co-owner, co-author, co-conspirator in all the policies that got us into the mess,” said Johnson, advising his colleagues to focus on those issues rather than her race or gender.
Comparing Harris and Biden
Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) said that while he believes Harris’s “agenda and her record is just as bad as Joe Biden’s,” he agreed with other Republicans saying that his party should back off of “DEI” attacks in favor of attacking Harris’s policies.
Sexist Attacks Against Harris
“DEI hire” is not the only insult lobbed at Harris based on racism and sexism. Many conservatives against Harris have accused her of “sleeping her way to the top,” due in part to her past relationship with Willie Brown, who served as San Francisco’s mayor in the 1990s.
Trump’s Latest Dig at Harris
Trump pointed to that relationship in an insult on social media, sarcastically calling her “highly talented,” adding, “Just ask her mentor, the great Willie Brown of San Francisco.”
“Childless Cat Ladies”
Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President, J.D. Vance, has been attacking Harris for years, notably calling her a “childless cat lady” and challenging whether she had a true stake in the country as a woman without her own biological children.
Harris’s Co-Parent’s Defense
Kerstin Emhoff, the first wife of Harris’s husband, Doug, and mother of their children, came to Harris’s defense, praising her role in her children’s lives.
“Loving, Nurturing, Fiercely Protective, and Always Present”
“For over ten years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I,” Ms. Emhoff said. “She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
Women Unsurprised by Attacks
For women, especially women of color, in politics, personal attacks like the ones Harris has received have virtually always been par for the course.
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