House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday distanced himself from some fellow Republicans who have called Vice President Kamala Harris a "DEI hire."
"As Kamala Harris has become the presumptive nominee, some of your colleagues have been criticizing her over the issue of diversity," CNN reporter Manu Raju asked at a press conference. "[Rep.] Tim Burchett said that she was a 'DEI hire.' Is that appropriate?"
"Listen, this election, as I noted at the outset, is going to be about policies, not personalities," Johnson responded. "This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris. And her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever."
"This is about who can deliver for the American people and get us out of the mess that we're in," the Speaker continued. "Every area of public policy is a disaster because the Biden-Harris administration made it that way. And that's what this election is about."
"I love that we'll have thoughtful debate going forward, where the Trump-Vance ticket can present their ideas and our solutions to all this and compare it to the Biden-Harris record," Johnson said.
"And that's why I believe we're going to have a great November," Johnson said. "The Republican Party is going to do very well."
