GOP pollster: Trump talking about Harris as ‘DEI candidate’ would ‘backfire’

Republican pollster Whit Ayres said in a new interview it would be a mistake for former President Trump to join some fellow Republicans in calling Vice President Harris a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) candidate.

Ayres told The Washington Post he is watching for Trump’s reaction when asked if Harris’s presidential candidacy, launched after President Biden bowed out of the race last Sunday, exacerbates or highlights weaknesses in the former president.

“If he follows the examples of some of the irresponsible members of Congress and starts taking shots at her race and her gender and talking about a DEI candidate, that’s going to backfire,” Ayres said.

Ayres said he thinks Trump should focus on Harris’s policy stances.

“On the other hand, if he focuses on policy differences and calls her a San Francisco liberal who wants to ban fracking, ban offshore drilling and eliminate private health insurance, then I think he will be helped by the Kamala candidacy,” he said.

In the days since Harris emerged as the party’s next candidate, several Republican lawmakers have claimed Harris was a DEI hire. Harris, of Jamaican and Indian descent, would be the first woman and first woman of color to serve as the country’s president.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) called Harris a “DEI hire.” He later doubled down on his claim even though he admitted he regretted calling her that. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) said Harris was the “bottom of the barrel,” calling her a DEI hire as well. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) said Democrats feel like they have to stick with Harris after Biden dropped out “because of her ethnic background.”

Some Republicans are warning their GOP colleagues to back off the DEI talk.

Ayres told the Post he thinks Harris faces a lot of pressure coming from the Biden administration and “it all comes down to how she can handle the pressure of a very, very intense presidential campaign.”

In his first rally since Biden announced he was dropping out, Trump spoke to supporters Wednesday in North Carolina, where he sharply criticized Harris. He blasted her over immigration and inflation, seeking to characterize her as a “radical-left lunatic” and mispronounced her name multiple times.