First Lady Jill Biden’s former press secretary blasted Democrats who label opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as racist this week after an MSNBC guest called President-elect Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee a "White supremacist."
"This s--- has to stop," Michael LaRosa, who served as the first lady’s press secretary from 2021 to 2022, posted on X in response to an MSNBC guest calling President-elect Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee and former Fox News host, Pete Hegseth, a "White supremacist" in response to his opposition to DEI policies.
"Opposing DEI initiatives does not make you a white supremacist. Conversations and demonization like this are a big part of the reason we got our a--es kicked," he continued.
"The answer to extremism is not more extremism. Voices like this on the left are turning the Democratic Party into a joke. We've got to knock it off and get serious guests who are going to diagnose politics, not make it worse," LaRosa continued. Name calling, vilifying, and defaming nominees you oppose, even if there is very good reason to oppose them, represents everything the Democratic Party should be RUNNING away from."
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La Rosa explained that Democrats should "fight back with strategy and tactics" rather than "pointless, defamatory and juvenile incentive."
"We need to get serious people opining about policy and politics, not one-upping each other or competing for who can make the most provocative insult about a Trump nominee you oppose."
The MSNBC guest speaking on Chris Hayes’ show, Former NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill, drew widespread condemnation from conservatives on social media.
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"Shame on @chrislhayes and @comcast for this pathetic attack," former Trump acting Director of National Intelligence RIchard Grenell posted on X.
"Sue her," Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. "Enough of this crap."
"Appalling smear," Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.
LaRosa told Fox News Digital on Friday that "there are too many on the left who preach at everyone, and if you disagree, then you are not only wrong, but you're a bad human being as well."
"The Democratic Party I've always known is the party that represents the values of inclusiveness and tolerance," LaRosa continued. "But that means inclusiveness and tolerance of diverse views, too, not just diversity for diversity's sake. Let's have a spirited disagreement or a debate but stop tagging people you disagree with as Hitler, fascists or white supremacists. It's not a serious contribution to the path forward in opposing Trump, his policy or his nominees."
"If politics is about addition, conversations like that are precisely why we're doing more subtraction lately, as Democrats."
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Fox News Digital reached out to Ifill for comment but did not receive a response.
In recent days, Democrats and pundits in the media have been searching for answers and explanations for VP Kamala Harris' presidential election loss, with many concluding that the campaign alienated voters with identity politics.
"This kind of obsession made Democrats view people too much through their ethnic or racial or gender identity and made them miss, for example, that working-class Latinos were moving toward Trump, perhaps, because they were socially conservative or liked his macho rhetoric or even agreed with his hard-line stance on immigration," CNN's Fareed Zakaria said after the election.
"The problem is deeper than one about nouns and pronouns. The entire focus on identity has morphed into something deeply illiberal. Judging people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character."
