Wyoming Democrats Angry That Rep. Hageman Called Kamala Harris A ‘DEI Hire’

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman is catching heat from the Wyoming Democratic Party for saying Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was hired by President Joe Biden to be his VP not because of her qualifications, but because her race and gender fulfilled the president’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals. 

In an interview posted online by Gray DC’s Josh Rultenberg, Hageman also called Harris “one of the weakest candidates” she’s seen in American history and intellectually, “just really kind of the bottom of the barrel.”

She also criticized Harris’ handling of immigration and management of the southern border, and she said the fact she is now a leading presidential candidate proves the Democratic Party is a mess.

“I think it’s just a failure from top to bottom,” Hageman said. “I think she was a DEI hire and I think that that’s what we’re seeing, and I just don’t think that they have anybody else. I just think that they’re in real disarray.”

What Do The Dems Say?

The Wyoming Democratic Party took offense to these comments, which it called “racist.” 

“It only took 3 days for @RepHageman to run in front of a television camera to make racist remarks directed toward @KamalaHarris,” the state Democratic Party posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday afternoon. “We are appalled and disgusted. This does not represent Wyomingites and our values. She must apologize.” 

On Monday, the Wyoming Democratic Party unanimously endorsed Harris. Harris was endorsed by Biden for president when he ended his reelection campaign on Sunday.

“Kamala Harris is a proven leader who will carry on the legacy of the current administration and deliver incredible results for our nation,” state party chairman Joe Barbuto said in a press release. 

Liberal Democratic New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also criticized Hageman’s comments on X on Tuesday. 

“What women who attack others like this don’t realize is whoever they think they’re appealing to calls them “DEI” too the moment they leave the room,” she wrote.

Hageman responded 21 minutes later and told Ocasio-Cortez to tag her next time she mentions Hageman in a post.

“If you don’t want people to say she was hired only because she’s a black woman, then maybe Biden shouldn’t have said he was only gonna hire a black woman,” Hageman said. “She is objectively bad at her current job and is asking for a promotion, using a nomination that was simply handed to her.”

Hageman did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.

She told The Hill on Wednesday her comments about Harris stemmed from a 2019 rally where Biden said he was considering a person of color and a woman to be his running mate.

“Joe Biden himself said he preferred a vice president based on their race and gender,” Hageman said. “Kamala Harris is more liberal than Bernie Sanders– she wants to ban fracking and offshore drilling, take away consumer choice to eat meat, turn illegal immigration into a civil offense– all things not in line with the people of Wyoming or the country as a whole.” 

Other Views

Hageman is not the first person on Capitol Hill to bring DEI up in the Harris conversation. 

U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee, also called Harris a “DEI hire,” and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wisconsin, similarly told local media that Democrats will elevate her to replace Biden as their nominee because they “feel they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has taken a different approach.

“This election … is going to be about policies, not personalities. This isn’t personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” Johnson said in a press conference Tuesday. “Her ethnicity, her gender, has nothing to do with this whatsoever.”

To this comment, the Wyoming Democrats responded on X that they guess Hageman “missed the memo.”