Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) criticized the Democratic Party by embracing Vice President Kamala Harris as its likely nominee, saying she is a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hire.
“I think she is one of the weakest candidates I have ever seen in the history of our country,” Hageman said in a video clip posted online by Josh Rultenberg of Gray TV. “I mean, intellectually, it really is rock bottom.”
Hageman criticized Harris for her stance on immigration and “failure” to deal with the influx of migrants crossing the country’s southern border.
“I think it’s just a failure from top to bottom,” Hageman said. “I think she was hired by DEI and I think that’s what we’re seeing and I just don’t think they have anyone else. I just think they’re really confused.”
In a statement emailed to The Hill, Hageman pointed to a 2019 rally where President Biden said he was considering a person of color and a woman as his running mate.
“Joe Biden himself said he preferred a vice president based on race and gender. Kamala Harris is more liberal than Bernie Sanders – she wants to ban fracking and offshore drilling, eliminate the consumer’s choice to eat meat, make illegal immigration a civil crime – all things that the people don’t agree with. of Wyoming or with the country as a whole,” Hageman’s statement said.
Harris made an impact by entering the 2024 presidential election at an unusual time, after Biden announced on Sunday that he would no longer run. The vice president, of Jamaican and Indian descent, would be the first woman and the first black woman to serve as the country’s president.
Hageman is among several Republican lawmakers who have cited Harris’ gender and race in arguing that she is unqualified.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) similarly said that Harris was a “DEI contractor” and on Wednesday doubled down on that claim, even saying he regretted calling her that. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) said Democrats feel they must stick with Harris after Biden dropped out “because of her ethnic background.”
The attacks have drawn criticism from several political and media figures, with Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida) saying earlier this week that they are among the “racist dog whistles” used against Harris as she launches her presidential campaign. Some Republicans are warning their GOP colleagues to back off in DEI negotiations as the party seeks to maintain ground with black voters.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
