As Republicans pivot to a new 2024 presidential campaign strategy after President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he's ending his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to run, some right-wing pundits are hitting below the belt.
One GOP leader — Rep. Tim Burchett (TN) — on Monday called Harris "a [Diversity, equity, and inclusion] hire," while others in his party are suggesting Harris found success a different way.
Matt Walsh, a far-right social media influencer wrote via X: "Kamala Harris got her start in politics by sleeping with Willie Brown. She became Vice President because Biden needed a non-white female on the ticket. Now she likely becomes the Democratic nominee for president because the guy at the top of the ticket has dementia. She’s made a career out of begging for hand outs from powerful men. A thoroughly unimpressive human being."
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Veteran author and journalist Dr. Naomi Wolf replied: "This kind of sexist take from Republican men will not play well. Swing voters who are women are up for grabs, the Trump/Vance ticket needs them, and ‘she slept her way to the top’ just repels many women and is not an argument."
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly replied to Wolf, writing: "Disagree. She actually did sleep her way into and upwards in California politics and most women (and men) may learn that and see it for what it is: evidence of an unqualified political aspirant getting ahead based on smthg other than merit. It’s relevant, and fair game."
Then, journalist Justin Baragona commented: "In her 2016 memoir, where she also recounted Roger Ailes' sexual harassment, Megyn Kelly fumed over the rumors she had an affair with Brit Hume: 'I hated that people might think I was getting ahead by sleeping my way to the top.' Now she's out here s----shaming Kamala Harris."
