MSNBC host pleads with Republicans to continue insulting Kamala Harris as 'DEI hire'
Current House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) begged their party to stop attacking Vice President Kamala Harris's race and gender because it is hurting them.
But on Wednesday, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace sarcastically begged the GOP to continue promoting her as a "DEI hire," a pseudonym — which many have blasted as racist — insinuating she's an unqualified Black woman hired over other qualified candidates. Wallace spent years in Republican politics and served in George W. Bush's White House.
She played clips of Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) attacking Harris as "unqualified." She also had clips of Fox hosts quoting the catchphrase "DEI hire," including former Donald Trump official Larry Kudlow struggling to recall what the acronym stood for.
"Maybe we should tell them it's working. Keep saying that stuff, guys," Wallace said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Read also: Inside the GOP's mysterious agenda for America’s future
She explained that the comments reflect horrifically on the Republican Party.
"Leadership has reportedly begged Republican members behind closed doors to stop the racist attacks," Wallace reported. "It's more than petty, though, isn't it? You know it is."
Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois called it "a disgusting dog whistle," then corrected himself and said, "It's an outright whistle."
"The GOP stoking racism in America is the defacto Democratic nominee focuses on the future and what is possible," Wallace said after playing a clip of Harris speaking in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Former assistant U.S. Attorney Maya Wiley linked the "DEI attacks" to "Project 2025," the far-right instruction manual from the Heritage Foundation for Trump's second term.
Wiley explained that the plan seeks to go after all civil rights protection laws and walk back the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The attacks on Harris are "overt racism and sexism," Wiley continued. "It's sexist and racist to say that by virtue of the fact she's a woman and a woman of color, she's not qualified. That's all they are saying."
She said it's the same as the "blueprint" in "Project 2025" to kill the Department of Education. It will also "undermine the ability of the federal government to assert and force and protect us from employment discrimination."
Longtime writer and analyst John Heilemann harkened back to the 1980s, recalling the Willie Horton commercial that George H.W. Bush ran in his 1988 campaign. The ad featured the mugshot of a prisoner on furlough who then killed someone else. The photo played up the scary Black man trope that Americans should fear would come after them and their children.
"This isn't 1988 anymore," Heilemann said. "We are not in Willie Horton 1988 anymore. It's not 1998 anymore. It's 2024."
See the conversation with the panelists below or at the link here.
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