Fox Business host Stuart Varney cautioned former President Donald Trump that he was making a "mistake" by insulting presumed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as "dumb."
During a Fox Business interview on Monday, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) blamed Harris' candidacy on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
"Americans are done with it," Owens said. "They're done with reparation, affirmative action. They're done with DEI."
"If she was a white person, she would not be sitting in the place she's sitting in right now," he continued. "She's Black. She's a woman. It has DEI to the core and they need to own up to it."
But Varney said he had spoken to women who were turned off by Trump insulting Harris.
"They are not happy with what Trump has been saying and some of the language that he's using about Kamala Harris," he said. "It's insulting."
Varney wondered if Trump should "tone down his language."
"I think what we should do is let's look at the message, are we trying to get our country back on course," Owens argued.
"But hold on a second," Varney interrupted. "I mean, I've been out and about over the weekend. And when Donald Trump called Kamala Harris dumb, that was a profound mistake, in my opinion."
"Women react to that kind of thing," the host said. "And so they should."
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Varney noted that Trump "said he was going to be nice, and then he says, I'm not going to be nice."
"I think that's a mistake," he added.
Owens deflected the question by pointing to the attempted assassination attempt on Trump.
"So we have to take Donald Trump for who he is," he asserted. "And I'll tell you what, the worst thing we can do is vote for a nice Kamala Harris because she's going to destroy our nation because her policies are anti-American."
