The Ultimate DEI Hire

Former President Trump sat for a scheduled interview before the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention, and the fireworks started with the opening question and answer:

Former President Donald Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris over her race, baselessly suggesting his election rival only began identifying as a Black woman in recent years.

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention. “So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”

He continued: “I respect either one but she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person. And I think somebody should look into that, too.”

Following the interview (PBS / YouTube at the bottom of this post), partisans leapt immediately into the fray attacking and defending President Trump's answers to various questions, with the main focus on whether Vice President Harris self-identified as "Black" or "Indian". There are videos supporting both positions, but my own take is that this contretemps will blow over when the Democratic convention begins on August 19th.

Also, the immediate negative reaction to President Trump's statements about Kamala Harris' race was understandable but self-defeating. The great American public, including myself, was unaware of how often she emphasized her Black or Indian heritage to the press, depending on which position was more advantageous. That's no crime, just opportunism.

President Trump made a smart chess move because:

1) It reminded us that Vice President Harris was selected as President Biden's running mate because of her sex and race, the ultimate DEI hire. (There are various speeches by candidate and President Biden declaring this to be the case.) DEI is becoming a dirty word in corporate circles.

2) Both white and black journalists later stated that they were highly offended by this latest example of Trumpian racism. Reporters should grow a pair, because the story isn't about them. Rational voters don't care about TV personalities' feelings, especially if the latter are rich and successful.

3) President Trump wasn't trying to convert the mostly hostile crowd who wasn't intending to vote for him anyway. He was going after the 10-20%, of all races,who are not enthusiastic about identity politics and who are staying silent because they're afraid of being cancelled if they strayed from the dominant narrative.

Let's first see what Kamala Harris does with the naming of her running mate and actually being declared the nominee of the Democratic Party before delving too deep into the dynamics of a Trump-Harris contest.