Back in 2020, Joe Biden made it a point to pick a black woman to be his running mate. In 2024, now that Vice President Kamala Harris is running for president in her own right, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell declared it “clearly racist” on Tuesday for Republicans to point this out.
Addressing former RNC chairman Michael Steele, Mitchell whined, “It took only a day for the Republicans to attack Vice President Harris in clearly racist terms. Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee says the vice president is a diversity hire. I mean, here’s a former senator, attorney general of California, our largest state. Take a listen.”
Mitchell then played a clip of Burchett with CNN’s Manu Raju, where Burchett condemned Biden for excluding women of other races. After Raju asked if Harris was a DEI hire, Burchett replied, “One hundred percent. She was a DEI hire.”
Mitchell’s only response was to do whataboutism with JD Vance, “That was to CNN, of course. Michael, compare that to JD Vance's two years in the Senate, she's been vice president for almost four years and before that a senator on the Judiciary Committee and, as I say, attorney general and a prosecutor.”
Despite proving he is fully in the Kamala Cult less than two hours earlier by tweeting a picture of Harris as Captain America, Steele tried to claim that he is still a Republican, “Yeah. You know, it's a familiar theme. It's a sign of, and this has been a problem that, you know, many of us in the party have had to confront and help through for many, many years, how to actually engage a conversation when they're confronting an African-American or person of color that— in the political space.”
Hey @realDonaldTrump. You ready for this? pic.twitter.com/GHBy697yRI
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) July 23, 2024
He then claimed Burchett and anyone else making a similar point is just trying to appeal to white men, “And so they revert to themes that appeal to white men, essentially, conservative white men who have these views about a successful black female in this particular case. It is a stupid thing for him to say, and, you know, look, the reality of it is, what else are you going to do?”
Lacking any citation, he proceeded to claim that Republicans are scared of her, “A lot of Republicans didn't want JD Vance and they were dreading the conversation between him and Kamala. Now that's shifted to Donald Trump, and so, there's a little bit of panic going on.”
When Republicans were arguing over who would make the best VP for Trump, the ability to debate Harris was at the bottom of the list. Nevertheless, Steele rolled right along, “You know, the name-calling is just getting started.”
Steele concluded by claiming:
It is transformative, and, you know, where it's going to land the strongest, I think, is with those younger voters who have started to check out of the process, and this kind of conversation does not help with those voters when they check in and so the Democrats have got to now work their system to get through the process to the convention, but Republicans now have to figure out how they're going to run against a Kamala Harris, who is a little bit more than a DEI hire, Republicans. I just want to let you know that.
The same network that is constantly throwing horrible names at black conservatives is upset that Republicans simply noticed what Democrats said out loud, but refused to positive spin on it.
Here is a transcript for the July 23 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
7/23/2024
12:26 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Michael Steele, it took only a day for the Republicans to attack Vice President Harris in clearly racist terms. Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee says the vice president is a diversity hire. I mean, here’s a former senator, attorney general of California, our largest state. Take a listen.
TIM BURCHETT: What about white females? [jump cut] When you go down that route, you take mediocrity and that's what you have right now as a vice president.
MANU RAJU: Are you suggesting she was a DEI hire?
BURCHETT: One hundred percent. She was a DEI hire.
MITCHELL: That was to CNN, of course. Michael, compare that to JD Vance's two years in the Senate, she's been vice president for almost four years and before that a senator on the Judiciary Committee and, as I say, attorney general and a prosecutor.
MICHAEL STEELE: Yeah. You know, it's a familiar theme. It's a sign of, and this has been a problem that, you know, many of us in the party have had to confront and help through for many, many years, how to actually engage a conversation when they're confronting an African-American or person of color that— in the political space.
And so they revert to themes that appeal to white men, essentially, conservative white men who have these views about a successful black female in this particular case. It is a stupid thing for him to say, and, you know, look, the reality of it is, what else are you going to do? What are you going to put up against Kamala? Now you've got, you know, JD Vance out there floundering.
A lot of Republicans have second guessed— are starting to second guess, that there were a lot of Republicans didn't want JD Vance and they were dreading the conversation between him and Kamala. Now that's shifted to Donald Trump, and so, there's a little bit of panic going on. You know, the name calling is just getting started, but what I think you see, Andrea, you put your finger on an important part in the question to Garrett is the energy level now on the Democratic side has shifted.
It is transformative, and, you know, where it's going to land the strongest, I think, is with those younger voters who have started to check out of the process and, this kind of conversation does not help with those voters when they check in, and so the Democrats have got to now work their system to get through the process to the convention, but Republicans now have to figure out how they're going to run against a Kamala Harris, who is a little bit more than a DEI hire, Republicans. I just want to let you know that.
