House speaker fails to rein in GOP's sexist, racist attacks on Harris

Some Republicans just couldn’t help themselves. Within hours of President Joe Biden ending his reelection campaign on Sunday and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, the personal attacks against her began.

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett was particularly offensive in an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju on Monday. Harris got the vice president position, Burchett said, because Biden promised “to hire a Black female,” saying that “when you go down that route, you take mediocrity.” Then he went on to call her a “DEI hire” referring to pro-diversity workplace initiatives.

Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah, who is incidentally one of just four Black House Republicans, told Punchbowl News that Harris is “the greatest example of DEI,” adding, “For those who believe in DEI, this is exactly what DEI is like. Kamala Harris.”

On Sunday, Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin told a reporter that Democrats “have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.” Punchbowl News asked Grotham about that comment, and he tried to walk it back, saying, “I don’t think people view her as Black” and that people “just view her as someone who did nothing on the border.”