Appearing on CNN Thursday to discuss President Joe Biden's struggles after a poor debate performance more than two weeks ago, a Republican party strategist found herself having to explain away an ugly racist attack on Vice President Kamala Harris made by one of Donald Trump's closest allies.
On Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight" on Wednesday, the host asked Sebastian Gorka, "Do these donors really think that Kamala Harris is going to do better in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania than Joe Biden would?"
Gorka, who served as Trump's deputy assistant in 2017, shot back, "Stop it, alright? She's a DEI hire, right? She's a woman. She's colored! Therefore she's gotta be good."
On Thursday, CNN host Sara Sidner put Maura Gillespie, who served as press secretary to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), on the spot by asking, "Is this line of attack going to backfire? To try to use that kind of language against Kamala Harris?"
"I don't see right now where he was on, but I'm assuming that because of the fact that he was on a far-right network, no, it's not going to backfire on him," Gillespie offered.
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"A lot of what most people in the Trump world say and do actually gets some positive reactions, which for me as a woman is infuriating because my worth is not based on my body part. It is my intellect and it's who I am and who I bring to the table and what I bring to the table."
Still not addressing the offensive "colored" remark, she continued, "It's really frustrating when this is the kind of comment we hear across the board. We hear it — I've been hearing this my entire career.
"But, that being said, it doesn't mean that just because she is a woman or if she weren't, that she is the next best person to be in the White House," she added. "I think we take things based on her work, her merit and again, she is staying behind Joe Biden and she's staying with him and has not said that she is trying to lead ahead of him or anything like that."
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