Burchett says he regrets calling Harris DEI hire, ‘but it was the truth’

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday said he regrets calling Vice President Harris a “diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hire” even as he doubled down on the comments. 

Speaking to Laura Coates on SiriusXM’s The Laura Coates Show, Burchett said, “Do I wish I'd said it? No, but it was the truth.”

Following President Biden’s decision to suspend his re-election campaign, and Harris’s subsequent own announcement for the presidency, Burchett took to X to express his disdain for the Democrats. 

“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 posted. 

The comments drew swift backlash from legislators across both sides of the aisle. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the attacks “stupid” while Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said in a press conference Tuesday that the DEI comments about Harris are “disgusting and offensive.”

McCarthy was deposed as Speaker last year. Burchett is one of the Republicans who voted to unseat him.

Burchett admitted that “folks from out of the district” were not happy with his comments but those within his district were “overwhelmingly in favor of it.”

“When folks are explained that this was in fact a statement that the president had made, and that it was one of his criteria for putting her on the ballot with him, then folks understand it,” Burchett said.

“But, you know, I mean I get the activists and they come off, they're gonna say something filthy to the young staff members. You know, and it's easy to hide behind a keyboard or a telephone, but they're not saying it in person. And actually members of Congress, both parties, have said, ‘Look, yeah, we get it, but this is what we gotta do because this is what our base and our leadership's demanding.’”

Republicans have been campaigning hard against DEI programs and policies, even dismantling the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion earlier this year. Many against DEI argue that it is divisive. 

Burchett told Coates that his comments were also taken after a “hot meeting over the Secret Service director.”

Kimberly Cheatle resigned as Secret Service director on Tuesday, 10 days after an attempted assassination of former President Trump.

“I actually I was asked about her and I continued to say that she was a terrible hire, which she was,” Burchett said of Cheatle.

“And she ended up resigning in shame, and then you know, then the CNN reporter stuck in the part about the vice president. And that's where it all came out. So, you know, it's one of those things. You live and learn. I do. You know, and one day at the convention, I gave 20 interviews, so it's not all gonna be gravy.”