Following caustic remarks from some Republicans attacking Vice President Kamala Harris based on identity as well as claims that she is a “DEI” pick, House Republican leaders advised lawmakers, in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, to concentrate on criticizing Harris’ policy record while avoiding references to her race and gender. The advice came after some Republicans made disrespectful comments about Harris, focusing on her identity. Richard Hudson, chair of the House GOP campaign arm and others present in the meeting warned lawmakers.
Since President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, Republican leaders have sought to direct their criticism of the presumptive Democratic nominee towards her handling of border issues and her decision to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress.
Speaking about the issue, House Speaker Mike Johnson after the meeting said that the elections will be about policies and not personalities. “This is not personal about Kamala Harris,” he added, “and her ethnicity or gender has nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
Trump campaign officials and other Republicans have accused Harris of being complicit in a cover-up of Biden’s health issues, and they have been mining her record as a prosecutor in California as they try to paint her as soft on crime.
Johnson further said both Donald Trump and Harris have records in White House policy and voters can compare how families were doing under the Trump administration with how they’re doing now under Biden. He said Harris is the co-owner, co-author, and co-conspirator in all the policies that got us into the mess.
Biden announced on Sunday his decision to withdraw from the Presidential election race. In a memo on the state of the race Tuesday, Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio argued the fundamentals of the campaign had not changed now that Harris appears increasingly likely to be the Democratic nominee.
