Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy has warned Donald Trump and other Republicans against making “dumb and stupid” personal attacks on Kamala Harris.
Harris, the first vice president of color, is the presumptive Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race against Trump on Sunday.
Republicans’ racist rhetoric against Harris began almost immediately after Biden abandoned his reelection campaign, including calling her a “DEI hire.”
McCarthy warned his colleagues that this was a serious mistake that would only benefit Harris by driving moderates and independents away from the party.
Racist rhetoric by Republicans against Vice President Kamala Harris began almost as soon as Joe Biden gave up his re-election bid, including calling her a “DEI mercenary”
“There are two attacks that I’ve heard Republicans make that are completely stupid and nonsensical, and that’s the DEI attack, okay?” he told NBC’s Meet the Press.
“This DEI, she seems like a petty… Look, I don’t agree with DEI, but she’s the vice president of the United States. She’s a former U.S. senator. These congresswomen who say that, their own instincts are wrong.”
McCarthy also rejected calls from his party colleagues for Biden to resign as president, saying Harris would automatically take the top job.
“That would be an advantage for Kamala. Air Force One is very powerful when it lands somewhere,” he said.
“And you know what? Something will happen between now and the election. A hurricane or something. And she’ll be able to present herself as a leader. Or maybe there’ll be a foreign policy.
“It’s a mistake for a Republican leader to say something like that.”
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned Donald Trump and other Republicans not to make racist attacks on Kamala Harris
Congressman Tim Burchett repeatedly mocked Harris, calling him a “DEI mercenary” who was only appointed Biden’s running mate to demonstrate inclusivity.
“She was 100 percent a DEI candidate,” he told CNN, claiming she was on the shortlist because Biden said during the 2020 campaign that he would “hire a Black woman for vice president.”
“And what about white women? And other groups?” Burchett added.
On Twitter, he expanded on the claim: “The media supported this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then abandoned him for our DEI VP.”
McCarthy was joined by other Republicans who warned against personal attacks on Harris to avoid alienating moderate voters.
This is despite the fact that Trump has consistently made personal insults against political opponents and others in almost every speech or interview.
“It’s certainly not the rhetoric that I would focus on. I would focus on her accomplishment of getting the job done,” Congressman Max Miller, a former Trump 2020 campaign official, told reporters. Fox news.
Congressman Tim Burchett has repeatedly ridiculed Harris as a “DEI mercenary” who only became Biden’s running mate to demonstrate inclusivity
“This woman is just not ready to be the commander in chief of the country. And I think that’s what Republicans need to focus on, instead of doing what Democrats do, which is calling someone out based on the color of their skin or their gender.
“This is all about merit. And so I think DEI is the wrong hole to be diving into.”
Another House Republican added: “Personal slander doesn’t work in politically successful campaigns. So yeah, let’s stop doing that.”
Congressman Ryan Zinke said he did not expect Trump to make “personal attacks,” despite his long history of personal attacks.
However, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene ignored calls to halt the election, claiming that “everyone knows” Harris was elected for her race.
“She wasn’t elected because she was really highly regarded by Democratic voters across the country. She was elected for a reason,” she told Fox News.
“And it appears that her gender and perhaps her skin color, unfortunately, played a role in that.”
Fox News also appeared not to have gotten the memo, as its pundits hammered home the “DEI hire” line Tuesday night.
Trump has a long history of almost constantly hurling personal insults at political opponents and others in almost every speech or interview, including mocking a disabled man (pictured)
New York Attorney General Letitia James has already used Republicans’ “DEI” attacks to accuse them of racism.
She said Republicans were “terrified” of the prospect of running against Harris in the election and that they “expect nothing but racism and sexism.”
“If you don’t have anything else, unfortunately you’re just appealing to the racists among us, the white nationalists among us. That’s it,” she said.
“The reality is that Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris, is qualified. And she is often underestimated, but she is an overachiever.
“And that’s why I supported her wholeheartedly. And it’s a shame that individuals only reinforce racism and sexism, and that’s totally inappropriate. And I won’t honor it with a response.”