(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Democrats and leftists alike were clutching their pearls in shock after New York Post columnist Charles Gasparino referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as the next “DEI president.”
The DEI acronym, standing for “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” represents left-wing principles aimed at enforcing the integration of minorities in the workforce, education and nearly all aspects of society.
Echoing long-standing criticisms that Harris is a so-called diversity hire, Gasparino wrote in a July 6 piece, “America may soon be subjected to the country’s first DEI president: Kamala Harris.”
America may soon be subjected to the country’s first DEI president: Kamala Harris https://t.co/NKW0RuBuBr pic.twitter.com/hF86fo4NCw
— New York Post (@nypost) July 6, 2024
He argued that despite the widespread backlash against DEI, Harris, often criticized as a product of “DEI,” has positioned herself as a potential heir to the Democratic nomination as President Joe Biden faces growing calls to step down over health concerns.
“Harris is already being hailed as the president-in-waiting as her boss Sleepy Joe — despite his defiant TV vow to George Stephanopoulos Friday night to stay in the race — increasingly faces reality that his chances of besting Trump are slim,” Gasparino added.
He further asserted that even if Biden stays, “Harris becomes the nation’s first DEI president by default.”
The left was outraged by Gasparino’s assertions, cynically labeling him a “racist.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential replacement for Biden, condemned the article as “straight-up racist.”
1 – @JoeBiden is our next President.
2 – This is straight up racist. pic.twitter.com/Zpb3oYV6yO
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 6, 2024
Similarly, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., claimed that the “right-wing transformation of ‘DEI’ into an epithet that denigrates people of color is deeply offensive.”
He added, “The insinuation that she did not earn the position, simply because she’s a Black woman, is not only factually wrong—it is profoundly racist.”
The right-wing transformation of ‘DEI’ into an epithet that denigrates people of color is deeply offensive.
Kamala Harris is the Vice President of the United States. The Biden-Harris ticket was voted into office by a majority of the American electorate. The insinuation that… pic.twitter.com/yRe58XobyP
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) July 6, 2024
Despite these assertions, Harris herself has faced questions about whether race played a role in Biden choosing her as his running mate in 2020. Biden had previously boasted about considering “four Black women” for the position.
In November 2023, the New York Times, far from a right-wing outlet, challenged Harris with a question regarding her selection being based on race.
“How should it matter, does it matter that that narrative has existed, that Biden needed to choose someone who was a black person, and should it matter?” New York Times reporter Astead Herndon asked Harris.
In a nervous and chuckling response, Harris said, “It happened. I don’t think, I honestly don’t understand your question. Has it lingered? … He chose a Black woman, that woman is me, so I don’t know that anything lingers about what he should choose. He has chosen, he asked me to join him on the ticket.”
As Biden faces increasing calls to step down as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Democrats grapple with the dilemma of Harris’s unpopularity and the optics of bypassing her to choose a white man, such as Newsom, or a white woman, like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as their nominee.
