Charlamagne tha God says the only real instance of a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hire in the White House race is the need for Vice President Harris to select a “straight, white male” as her running mate.
“We can’t sit here and act like she doesn’t need a straight, white male,” the “Breakfast Club” co-host told ITK in an exclusive interview.
“It’s all this talk about DEI hires — she needs one,” the 46-year-old “Get Honest or Die Lying” author added with a laugh.
Several GOP lawmakers have criticized Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent and would be the first woman and first woman of color to serve as president, as a “DEI hire,” citing her race and gender to knock her as unqualified. Critics have called the DEI attacks from Republicans “racist dog whistles.”
In an interview last week at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, former President Trump mocked Harris’s heritage.
“She was always of Indian heritage,” Trump said, before later adding, Harris then “happened to turn Black.”
“She’s going to need a straight, white male to convince a lot of people in middle America that she’s the person that should be on the ticket,” said Charlamagne Tha God, who was born Lenard McKelvey.
The vice president, who launched her 2024 campaign after President Biden exited the race last month, is expected to name her running mate in the coming days. Some of the names being floated as top Democratic contenders in the search include Govs. Josh Shapiro (Pa.), Andy Beshear (Ky.) and Tim Walz (Minn.), along with Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Charlamagne, a Trump critic who’s backing Harris, likened her running mate search to then-Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) 2008 presidential run.
Obama, Charlamagne said, “needed somebody like a Vice President Biden to make people feel comfortable to vote for the first Black man. And it’s the same thing with the vice president now — she definitely needs a straight white male to make America comfortable with it.”
“There’s no need for us to lie about it,” Charlamagne said. “There’s no need for her to act like that’s not what it is. It’s just facts: She needs a straight white male on the ticket.”