Media, Dems, Deride DEI Label for Harris. But They Gave It to Her

When all of Harris' failures are put into the spotlight, it becomes very clear there’s one reason Biden picked her for the ticket.

As Kamala Harris revs up her campaign for president, the media has begun to circle the wagons and play defense against the building assault. One such defense is the implication that Harris is a DEI candidate, and that her race and sex are what got her the VP slot and not her qualifications. 

Democrats and their media allies claim that calling Harris a DEI hire is “incredibly insulting” and that it’s equivalent to using a “racial slur.” But if they were being honest, they’d be forced to admit Harris’ race was the defining factor when Biden chose her as his running mate. 

Following the summer race riots in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, large swathes of the Democratic party began pressuring Biden to pick a black woman as his running mate based purely on identity. An open letter by several black activists within the Democratic party infrastructure suggested several black women, including Harris, Susan Rice, Karen Bass, and Val Demings be put under consideration. 

“It is a fact that the road to the White House is powered by Black women and Black women are the key to a Democratic victory in 2020,” the letter stated, “therefore, we urge you to seize this historic opportunity to choose a Black woman running mate who will fight for the issues that matter most to the American people and help deliver a decisive victory and a successful Biden presidency.”

Biden would later confirm to MSNBC’s Joy Reid that his shortlist for VP was almost a carbon copy of the suggestions in the letter. 

When Biden eventually settled on Harris, the media fawned over the pick. Endless headlines highlighting just how monumental it was that a black woman was suddenly in contention for the second most powerful position on the planet. 

The Biden White House even touts Harris’ race and sex on its website. Right at the top of Harris’ bio reads “On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was sworn in as Vice President – the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be elected to this position.”

Yet suddenly it’s problematic to point out that Harris’ race and sex were a key selling point? The pearl clutching from the left about noticing DEI comes off as more than a bit contrived. Especially since Harris wasn’t even the last public official given a job based on her race and sex. 

When liberal justice Stephen Bryer announced he was retiring from the court, Biden immediately vowed the next justice would be a black woman. 

"While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity - and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It's long overdue, in my view," Biden said. 

So there’s two examples of Biden and Democrats explicitly picking people based on their race. But even in the face of all that evidence, one point of confusion still remains. If diversity is a net positive that should be attained at all ends, why is pointing it out such a problem? 

Democrats and the media have constantly claimed that DEI efforts are a net positive. Isn’t affirmative action a good thing? Thus, if Harris is a DEI hire, why not promote it? Scream from the hilltops that Harris was picked based on her race and that damn straight giving people jobs based on the color of their skin is a good thing. 

But Harris is the perfect example of why DEI initiatives result in terrible candidates in the first place.

Politically, she’s a mess. Her 2020 primary campaign was a complete failure and she dropped out of the race after it became clear she wouldn’t be getting any delegates.Her tenure as VP has yielded nothing but catastrophes including a wide open border (Axios would like to you forget, but yes she was named the border czar).

When all of her failures are put into the spotlight, it becomes very clear there’s one reason Biden picked her for the ticket. 

Some Republicans have begun openly saying that Harris is a DEI hire, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee comes to mind. He has since said he regrets it, likely after Speaker Mike Johnson urged his caucus to tamp down on such talk. 

But I think Harris should be forced to own up to the fact that she was selected not because she was a good politician, or a good debater, or even a particularly good person. Harris was put into her position as a crass act of racial pandering. 

And no amount of fake offense by the media can cover that up.