Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert is facing criticism after she referred to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as a “DEI hire.”
In a recent tweet, Boebert took aim at Jean-Pierre, a Columbia University graduate and the first Black gay woman to serve as the top White House spokesperson, accusing her of being hired as part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion program to improve representation.
“I couldn’t care less about what @PressSec has to say today,” Boebert wrote on X on Tuesday. “It’s between 10am-4pm which means ‘President’ Joe Biden supposedly should be coherent enough to take a few questions from the press. Instead, Americans are supposed to listen to the discredited DEI hire. PASS.”
Boebert’s tweet also references an Axios report stating that the president is “dependably engaged” between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The report came after Biden’s devastating 9 p.m. debate on July 27, during which he appeared to lose his train of thought and made several gaffes. According to the Axios report, Biden’s days, including when he sleeps, are carefully orchestrated, down to his orthopedic shoes and how he walks onto the Marine One helicopter and Air Force One when he leaves the White House.
Boebert quickly faced criticism from other X users after her comment, which many deemed “racist.”
“DEI hire? Not only was that incredibly racist, it was disrespectful. A sitting Congresswoman should be better than that,” one user said. “Remember, elections have consequences. I guess the Republican Party is the party of racism and bigotry.”
“DEI hire vs a GED hire. You have a lot of nerve nasty lady,” Florida Democrat Mike Harvey said.
“I couldn’t care less. These words indicate a closed mind, a refusal to listen, an inability to consider anything new, and maybe most importantly, a meanness of spirit and lack of character,” another user wrote. “All disqualifying in one serving in a position of immense power. #CO04, please. PASS.”
Jean-Pierre became the White House press secretary in 2022, following Jen Psaki in the role after she joined MSNBC. The 49-year-old served as the deputy press secretary before ascending to the top role.
During Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, Jean-Pierre was a regional political director for the southeast. She served in the same role during Senator John Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign. She also worked in the Obama administration and on the then-president’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Boebert has used the “DEI” attack in the past, PinkNews noted. On March 30 last year after a train derailment in Minnesota, Boebert took a similar jab against the first openly gay member of the cabinet: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“Another train derailment – now in Minnesota. And it was carrying ethanol! When we had a real Transportation Secretary instead of a DEI sympathy hire, this didn’t happen every day!” she wrote at the time.
