Vice President Kamala Harris may be doing her campaign a whole lot of good by not focusing on her race as she campaigns, according to Former President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod.
Axelrod told CNN News Central on Wednesday that the vice president is making the right move by not focusing on her gender and race. Axelrod reminded Harris that she was not running to be the first Black woman president but the president of the United States.
“I heard my really dear friend, and she is, Congresswoman Schakowsky, leaning into ‘I’m so excited. This is a historic thing a Black woman’ and so on. You don’t hear Kamala Harris saying that, and she’s smart not to,” Axelrod said. “She’s not running to be the first Black woman president. She’s running to be president of the United States, and she thinks she’s the best qualified and the most representative of this country as a whole, and that’s how she should run. And that’s how people should talk about her. You know, the fact is her supporters should talk about why she’s the strongest candidate, not that she’s a historic candidate. “Everybody can see that, but that’s not enough to bring the voters who they need to come along.”
David Axelrod Says Kamala Harris 'Smart Not To' Run On Being 'First Black Woman President' pic.twitter.com/AcSRHOUvPJ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 24, 2024
Despite Harris’ silence on race, it still remains the main talking point among Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have put Harris under the microscope since she announced her candidacy. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), in an X post, labeled Harris a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hire while blasting the media for going silent on President Joe Biden’s
The incompetency level is at an all-time high in Washington. The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president. pic.twitter.com/3zJhJBsB4j
— Rep. Tim Burchett (@RepTimBurchett) July 22, 2024
“The incompetency level is at an all-time high in Washington. The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president,” Burchett wrote.
CNN host Brianna Keilar falsely accused Republicans who label Harris a DEI hire as racists.
“We heard Congressman Tim Burchett calling Vice President Harris a DEI hire, which has kind of almost become this veiled slur, I think, because we see people using it when it doesn’t even make sense. People who weren’t hired but maybe were elected,” Keilar began. “And what we see is this tends to be something that is only said about people of color or people who are not men.”
CNN Host Says 'DEI' Is 'Veiled Slur' Against People Like Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/ZPLIjJPxVB
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 23, 2024