Johnson seeks to quash "DEI hire"-type attacks on Harris
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) at a news conference in Washington on June 13, 2024 (Photo by Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images)
House GOP leaders are trying to avoid a backlash over accusations lodged by their rank-and-file that Kamala Harris is a "DEI hire," so they're pushing members to take aim at her policy stances instead.
Why it matters: Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republicans are encouraging members to avoid attacking the vice president's identity as they seek to navigate a campaign against the new presumed presidential nominee. Harris is the first woman, the first Black American and the first South Asian American to serve as vice president.
- Johnson (R-La.) encouraged members to" focus on policy not personality" during a closed-door conference meeting Tuesday, later echoing that sentiment publicly to reporters.
- Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) encouraged members in the meeting to "hold off on 'editorializing' on Kamala. Just stick to her disastrous record," a GOP lawmaker who was present for the comments told Axios.
The big picture: Leadership's push to quash gender- or race-based critiques of Harris follows comments from a handful of GOP lawmakers asserting that the vice president was able to quickly step in for Biden because she's a woman of color.
- "The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president," Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) posted on X.
- During a recent television appearance, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) alleged Democrats had to stick with Harris as the nominee "because of her ethnic background."
Yes, but: Johnson's efforts to focus on Harris' policy record are complicated by rhetoric from the top of the ticket.
- Sen. JD Vance — Trump's running mate — hasn't limited his criticism to Harris' stance on issues.
- In his first solo campaign appearance Monday, Vance drew a biographical contrast with Harris, who he accused of "collecting a government paycheck for the last 20 years"
Zoom out: Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) are weighing introducing a censure resolution against Burchett over his remarks, Politico first reported.
- Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) told CNN the comments "are just racist dog whistles. 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."
- "Of course it's not appropriate, for heaven's sakes. What, are they just going to say, 'If you're not a white male, it's a DEI candidate?' I'm sorry. No," Rep. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told Huffington Post.
- Johnson, meanwhile, said he'd "talked with a lot of members," and he thought his message had landed.
