{"id":2317055,"date":"2024-07-31T20:22:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T00:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-republicans-urge-trump-to-stay-away-from-harris-dei-controversy-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-31T20:25:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T00:25:23","slug":"senate-republicans-urge-trump-to-stay-away-from-harris-dei-controversy-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-republicans-urge-trump-to-stay-away-from-harris-dei-controversy-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Republicans urge Trump to stay away from Harris DEI controversy &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-republicans-urge-trump-to-stay-away-from-harris-dei-controversy-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2317055&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate\u2063 Republicans \u200crecently \u2063expressed concerns about former President Donald Trump&#8217;s comments regarding Vice President \u2063Kamala Harris, urging him to focus on policy \u200cissues instead of making racially charged\u2062 remarks. In an interview, \u2062Trump claimed that Harris, who is \u2064of Indian and Jamaican heritage, \u2064&#8221;turned black&#8221; for political advantage, which drew criticism from various GOP leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, who \u200dsuggested Republicans should \u200bemphasize\u2062 Harris\u2019s political records rather than her identity.<\/p>\n<p>Republican senator Steve Daines emphasized the importance of discussing policy rather than\u200b controversial remarks,\u200c and several other GOP members echoed this\u200d sentiment,\u200d arguing\u200d that such distractions could jeopardize their electoral prospects. However, some, like Senator Kevin Cramer, defended Trump by saying he was\u200d not questioning\u200b Harris\u2019s heritage but\u2062 rather highlighting her alleged\u200c inconsistency\u200b regarding identity. <\/p>\n<p>The political implications of Trump\u2019s comments are significant, especially\u2063 as Republicans reposition themselves after potential\u200d shifts\u200b in the Democratic party due \u200dto Biden&#8217;s leadership. Despite some support for \u2062Trump\u2019s stance, many \u200cwithin the party \u2064are\u2062 wary of the impact his comments could have on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-plot-to-expand-abortion-playbook-for-2024-house-takeover\/\" title=\"Democrats plan to expand abortion strategies for 2024 House control\">campaign strategy moving forward<\/a>,\u200c particularly as they \u200caim to draw attention\u2062 to Harris\u2019s policy\u2062 decisions rather than her \u200cracial \u200didentity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Senate Republicans urge Trump to stay away from Harris DEI controversy<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1719989\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Senate Republicans pleaded with former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> to focus on policy Wednesday after he accused Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Kamala Harris<\/a> of &ldquo;turning black&rdquo; to benefit herself politically.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to black journalists in Chicago, Trump was asked about recent comments by a number of congressional Republicans arguing she was a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3097508\/burchett-wishes-hadnt-called-harris-dei-hire-claims-it-was-truth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>DEI hire<\/a>&rdquo; because President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> promised to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2020\/03\/15\/biden-woman-vice-president-131309\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>select a woman<\/a> as his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: &#039;Pipeline&#039; to Obama Admin Seen as &#039;Currency&#039;\">vice president<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The insinuation that Harris was not qualified for the job received reprimands from GOP leaders including Speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/07\/24\/republicans-pushback-dei-attacks-harris\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-LA), who reportedly urged his conference to focus instead on Harris&rsquo;s liberal voting record as she vies to replace Biden in the White House.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump declined to do the same in his interview with the National Association of Black Journalists. Asked if he found the DEI comments &ldquo;acceptable,&rdquo; Trump proceeded to claim falsely that Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, did not present as black later in her career.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You know what, I respect either one. But she obviously doesn&rsquo;t. Because she was Indian all the way, then all of a sudden, she made a turn. And she became a black person. And I think somebody should look into that,&rdquo; Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus during her time in the Senate and years before that a member of a black sorority at a historically black college.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-touts-savings-for-families-as-voters-sour-on-economy\/\" title=\"Biden highlights family savings as voters lose faith in economy\">remark received<\/a> a reprimand from some corners of the GOP, most prominently former Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate in deep-blue Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone&rsquo;s racial identity,&rdquo; he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/govlarryhogan\/status\/1818745816879972639?s=51&amp;t=oYTIYwEqmPpaQCOEPM8xZA\">posted<\/a> on X. &ldquo;The American people deserve better.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But Senate Republicans, who are in Washington, D.C., until Thursday before a monthlong summer recess, either sidestepped the comments or stated that Republicans will lose the election if their focus is anywhere except policy.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think the most important thing we can talk about is the policies and statements she&rsquo;s made,&rdquo; Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the chairman of Senate Republicans&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-outraise-democrats-across-the-board-in-january\/\" title=\"Republicans Outraise Democrats Across the Board in January\">campaign arm<\/a>, said of Harris. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just very radical.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Thom Tillis, a centrist Republican from North Carolina, rattled off the border, national security, and the economy as the three issues that will send Republicans to Washington in November.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We focus on that, we win,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We shift focus away from it, we start losing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The statements were directed at Republicans writ large, but the plea to Trump was unmistakable and in some cases explicit.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s advice to all my colleagues in North Carolina who are running for reelection and anybody else who wants to sweep this town,&rdquo; Tillis said when asked if his comments were directed at Trump. &ldquo;And we need to sweep this town.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) defended Trump, denying he was questioning Harris&rsquo;s black heritage but rather &ldquo;making fun of the fact that she chooses it when it&rsquo;s convenient.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But he, too, said the remarks were not helpful. &ldquo;It just opens him up for this kind of questioning, even though I think, as I&rsquo;ve always said, we should take him seriously, not literally.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Even close Trump allies steered clear of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-scott-flattens-the-views-sunny-hostin-for-saying-black-republicans-are-an-oxymoron\/\" title=\"Tim Scott Flattens \u201cThe View\u201ds\u2019 Sunny Hostin for Saying Black Republicans Are an \u201cOxymoron\u201d\">racially tinged comments<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get into all that stuff,&rdquo; Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said. &ldquo;Let him talk about what he wants to talk about. I&rsquo;m talking about the bad shape our country is [in] right now because of her.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>GOP lawmakers grew accustomed to fielding the periodic controversies that marked Trump&rsquo;s first presidential campaign and eventually his four years in the White House. But the political fallout from Wednesday&rsquo;s comments has taken on added significance as Republicans try to find their footing after Democrats swapped out Biden at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has begun to home in on Harris&rsquo;s record, in particular her role as Biden&rsquo;s so-called border czar. But his campaign has also been criticized for a lack of message discipline. Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/112883041451077389\">doubled down<\/a> on the racial attacks, calling Harris a &ldquo;stone cold phony&rdquo; in a Wednesday post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;She uses everybody, including her racial identity!&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Democrats quickly fundraised off the Trump interview, highlighting his comment that Harris &ldquo;could be&rdquo; a diversity hire. In an email, the Senate Majority PAC invoked Trump&rsquo;s past &ldquo;racist attacks,&rdquo; including the times he doubted the authenticity of former President Barack Obama&rsquo;s birth certificate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Harris&rsquo;s campaign denounced Trump&rsquo;s remarks at the NABJ conference as an &ldquo;absolute disaster.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is an absolute disaster for Donald Trump. I cannot believe he did this.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ammar Moussa (@ammarmufasa) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ammarmufasa\/status\/1818713811752567270?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Trump campaign accused the media of engaging in &ldquo;unhinged and unprofessional commentary,&rdquo; including the insinuation that the interview was cut short because it was a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TrumpWarRoom\/status\/1818745787318222961\">train wreck<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1719989\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1719989\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Republicans are urging former President Donald Trump to concentrate on policy issues rather than engage in controversy surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris. This plea comes after Trump made remarks suggesting that Harris was &#8220;turning black&#8221; for political gain during an interview with black journalists in Chicago. When questioned about recent claims from some congressional Republicans labeling her a &#8220;DEI hire,&#8221; implying she was chosen solely based on her gender and race, Trump did not align with GOP leaders who have criticized this notion. Instead, he falsely asserted that Harris, who has Indian and Jamaican heritage, did not identify as black earlier in her career.<\/p>\n<p>GOP leaders like Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) have encouraged their party to focus on Harris&#8217;s liberal voting record instead of personal attacks. However, Trump&#8217;s comments drew backlash even from within the Republican Party; former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan condemned the remarks as unacceptable and harmful to public discourse.<\/p>\n<p>While Senate Republicans were largely silent or redirected attention back to policy matters\u2014highlighting issues like border security and the economy\u2014some acknowledged that Trump&#8217;s approach could be detrimental to their electoral prospects. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) emphasized the need for Republicans to stay focused on substantive issues if they want to succeed in upcoming elections.<\/p>\n<p>Despite some defending Trump&#8217;s comments as a critique of Harris&#8217;s perceived opportunism regarding her racial identity, others recognized that such statements could lead to unnecessary scrutiny of his campaign. Even close allies distanced themselves from the racially charged remarks, preferring instead to discuss broader national concerns attributed to Harris&#8217;s policies.<\/p>\n<p>As Trump continues targeting Harris\u2019s record\u2014especially regarding immigration\u2014his campaign faces criticism for lacking message discipline. Following his controversial statements, Senate Democrats quickly capitalized by fundraising off the incident while highlighting Trump&#8217;s history of racially insensitive comments. The situation has sparked significant debate within Republican ranks about how best to approach campaigning against potential Democratic candidates moving forward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2317056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trump-harris-black-indian-1024x591.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[36826,4021,35272,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2317055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dei-controversy","tag-harris","tag-senate-republicans","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trump-harris-black-indian-1024x591.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2317055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2317055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2317056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2317055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2317055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2317055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}