White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed out on Thursday that it speaks volumes that Republican congressional leaders had to admonish members to refrain from “being racist” and sexist towards Vice President Kamala Harris.
Asked about a Politico report about a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning in which party leaders begged lawmakers to stop attacking Harris on the basis of identity, Jean-Pierre replied, “When you have the Speaker of the House [Mike Johnson]… set up a meeting to tell Republican leaders to stop being racist, to stop being misogynist, to stop being sexist, I think that says a lot that they have to be told to not do that.
“But more broadly,” she continued, “I think it’s—I think it’s desperate. I think it’s disgusting and I think it’s a dog whistle. And we should not forget that she is the vice president of the United States. She’s the vice president of the United States. She should get that respect.”
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Shortly after Harris’ campaign announcement on Sunday, several Republicans waded in to slam her as “a DEI hire” undeserving of the nomination.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) whined that Harris was “100 percent” a diversity hire in a CNN appearance on Monday.
“Biden said, first off, he said he’s going to hire a Black female for vice-president. What about white females? What about any other group?” he asked. “When you go down that route, you take mediocrity, and that’s what they have right now with the vice president.”
Hours earlier, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) told a local CBS affiliate that he was sure Democrats “feel they have to stick with [Harris] because of her ethnic background.”
Johnson on Tuesday denied to reporters that the Republican line of attack should have anything to do with the vice president’s identity.
“This election… is going to be about policies, not personalities,” he said, according to The Hill. “This isn’t personal with regard to Kamala Harris. Her ethnicity, her gender, has nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
