What is ‘DEI’? Lawmaker makes comment amid Harris candidacy [Video]

Terms like “DEI hire,” “DEI candidate” and “DEI president” have circulated as Kamala Harris steps up to the Democratic nomination. What do they mean?

WASHINGTON — After Republican politicians called Vice President Kamala Harris a “DEI hire” while she pursues her bid for the White House, the subject of diversity, equity and inclusion has again become a hot topic.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee, called Harris a “DEI vice president” Monday a day after she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president.

“The incompetency level is at an all-time high in Washington. The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president,” Burchett wrote in an X post.

Burchett spoke with CNN’s Manu Raju about Harris’ candidacy, where the lawmaker said, “100 percent she was a DEI hire.”

Political commentator Angela Rye responded on CNN, saying, “What you have in Kamala Harris is someone who was not only …