Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) condemned Republicans like Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) who label Vice President Kamala Harris as a “DEI” hire, accusing them of using racist “dog whistles” and likening it to the N-word.
During an appearance on CNN’s Newsroom, Frost claimed that politicians like Burchett will continue to use these tactics throughout the campaign. “We’re going to see it from Trump, we’re going to see it from J.D. Vance, and we’re going to see it from a lot of their surrogates,” he said.
Frost specifically criticized a recent statement made by one of Burchett’s surrogates, who threatened that a civil war would break out if they didn’t win elections. “This is an organization, a right-wing campaign that’s going to be racist and misogynistic against the vice president,” Frost asserted.
He emphasized that Harris’ qualifications speak for themselves, with more experience than Trump and J.D. Vance combined. Frost urged viewers to remember that when they hear the term “DEI”, they should think of the N-word and racial slurs.
CNN host Jim Acosta asked Frost if he believed Burchett was being racist for his comments. Frost replied that he had a good relationship with Burchett but acknowledged that he sometimes uses rhetoric that is racist, whether intentionally or not. He implored Burchett and others to stop using such language in the future.
