How Trump can reshape his messaging on DEI after NABJ interview goes off the rails

Former President Donald Trump’s messaging on diversity, equity, and inclusion was put under the microscope during a hostile interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday.

Trump was directly asked if he believes Vice President Kamala Harris is a “DEI hire,” and his response was to criticize Harris for previously leaning into her Indian heritage only to “turn black” and embrace her African American heritage. Some Republicans were disconcerted by his retort.

“Race and gender have nothing to do with why Kamala Harris is the most unpopular Vice President in history,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign National press secretary, told the Washington Examiner.

“Kamala failed at her job as Border Czar, supported all of Joe Biden’s disastrous policies, and lied to the American people about Biden’s cognitive decline,” Leavitt added. “She is weak, dishonest, and dangerously liberal, and that’s why the American people will reject her on November 5th.”

Harris publicly supported Biden to remain as Democrats’ presidential nominee up until the point that he dropped his reelection bid and endorsed her. She has not signaled any knowledge or feeling that she believes his mental acuity has been impaired. Republicans, such as Trump and his campaign, however, have accused her of covering for her boss.

From a longtime NABJ member’s point of view

Tariq Nasheed, a longtime member of the NABJ, shared his thoughts on Trump’s messaging on DEI with the Washington Examiner.

Nasheed said that “Trump needs to drop the DEI messaging” because people used the term as “another boogieman code word meant to vilify Black people.” He warned that “it would be hard for Trump to get away from the racism allegations while still using racial code words, that everyone understands to be racial.”

Nasheed, who has been critical of Harris regarding her black identity before, said he doesn’t believe the vice president was “a DEI hire,” but he doesn’t consider Trump’s comments about her racial identity to be “an attack.”

“This has been a major discussion within Black American society,” he said. “Many Black people question why Kamala Harris, who does NOT come from a Foundational Black American lineage, starts engaging in performative Blackness during every political season. We remember when she was absolutely being promoted and identified as an Indian American woman.”

He added, “She has a practice of cosplaying Foundational Black American cultural aesthetics, and this legitimately causes many Black people to question her motives and authenticity.”

Black commentators warn Trump not to ‘take the bait’

Three black conservative or conservative-leaning political commentators told the Washington Examiner how they would recommend Trump reshape his messaging on DEI going forward. The commentators, all of whom have been critical of Harris before, agreed that the former president should turn his focus away from race and slam Harris on policy.

“DEI is a tired dog whistle for Democrats,” Armstrong Williams, radio host and part owner of the Baltimore Sun, said. “Trump & Co. don’t need to take the bait. Make this race NOTHING about color. No one cares.”

Williams said inflation is “killing the black community” just as much if not more than it is the white community. He also listed fentanyl use, housing, immigration, and wage growth as issues that are hurting black people the most. “You name the policy, and Harris is weak on it.”

“So don’t chase these DEI and other fake words,” he added. “Stay on mission: she’s a failed border czar who can’t govern on the issues that matter most.”

Stacy Washington, an Air Force veteran and ambassador for black leadership network Project 21, agreed with criticism of Harris leaning into her black heritage “after years of her using her Indian heritage to identify with voters in California,” but warned that focusing on this distracts the public from Harris’s far-left record.

Washington told the Washington Examiner that Harris leaning into her black heritage “smacks of rank opportunism” but “that is her personality, and she will continue to distract from her far left viewpoints as long as we dance to her tune.”

“From here on out,” Washington said Trump should focus on the issues voters by and large agree on. “Americans want the southern border closed, lower interest rates, lower inflation, and less foreign entanglements (less war),” Washington said. “President Trump gave America all of these things and can do so again.”

Deroy Murdock, Fox News contributor and emeritus media fellow with the Hoover Institution, said, “Kamala Harris and the far-Left Democrats want Donald J. Trump to focus on race” so that anything “he says will be turned into, ‘Racist!’”

“Rather than play their game,” he offered, “Trump should focus on public policy.” He recommended Trump ask voters if they are better off now than they were under his first term, if they are “happier now paying higher prices for energy, food, and housing,” if they prefer the Biden-Harris administration’s “wide-open border” to Trump’s “much-tighter border,” and if they “feel safer on America’s streets and with this country’s place in the world” under the current administration.

What is a ‘DEI hire’?

When ABC’s Rachel Scott asked Trump if Harris was a “DEI hire,” before mentioning her race, he asked for a definition of “DEI.” Scott told him that it stands for “diversity, equity, and inclusion” but did not elaborate, possibly standing as the reason Trump did not directly answer the question.

Featured in many colleges, businesses, and government agencies, DEI initiatives were designed to foster the participation and equitable treatment of all people regardless of their race, sex, and other categories. However, these initiatives have resulted in such categories being considered for college admittance, job roles, and other positions that are traditionally awarded through merit.

When Scott asked Trump if Harris was a “DEI hire,” she was really asking him if the vice president was selected based on her race, sex, or some other unchangeable category. As Nasheed, the longtime NABJ member, noted, this language has adopted racial undertones, and some people have used the term “DEI hire” to describe any woman or minority chosen for a prominent role.

However, accusations of Harris being a “DEI hire” were fed by then-presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s 2020 promise to select a woman as his running mate. He additionally vowed to put a black woman on the Supreme Court before eventually nominating Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022.

As of 2024, 10 states have signed anti-DEI legislation into law and 16 other states have proposed similar legislation.