Wyoming Dems demand Hageman apologize for calling Harris a ‘DEI hire’

The Wyoming Democratic Party is calling on U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman to apologize for calling Vice President Kamala Harris a diversity, equity and inclusion hire.

“It took only three days for Harriet Hageman to disgrace herself on national television by launching a reprehensible and racist attack on Vice President Kamala Harris,” the WDP wrote in a statement .

Hageman made the comments in a video clip posted online by Gray DC multimedia journalist Josh Rultenberg, calling Harris “one of the weakest candidates I’ve ever seen in the history of our country.

“I mean, intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel,” Hageman said.

Both Hageman and Harris are attorneys by trade, but pursued different legal-career paths.

Hageman became a trial attorney, mostly working in water and natural resource issues, after graduating from the University of Wyoming College of Law and clerking in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Hageman became known as a tenacious litigator , largely for her work opposing federal environmental regulations.

After graduating from UC Hastings College of Law, Harris got her start as a prosecutor in Alameda County and eventually San Francisco. In 2010, Harris was elected attorney general of California — the largest state Justice Department in the country.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has a distinguished record and career marked by significant achievements in public service, law enforcement, and advocacy for justice, including holding the highest public office of any woman in our nation’s history,” the WDP said in its statement. “Frankly, her accomplishments far surpass those of Harriet Hageman.”

Hageman’s office did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment.

The congresswoman is one of several GOP lawmakers who have cited Harris’ gender and race while arguing that she is unqualified for the presidency, according to The Hill . But Republican leaders are now warning their members against leveling overtly racist and sexist attacks against Harris.

“This election will be about policies and not personalities,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after a closed-door meeting on Tuesday of House Republicans, according to PBS NewsHour .

That same day, following criticism from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), Hageman defended her remarks on X, formerly Twitter.

“If you don’t want people to say she was hired only because she’s a black woman, then maybe Biden shouldn’t have said he was only gonna hire a black woman,” Hageman wrote. “She is objectively bad at her current job and is asking for a promotion, using a nomination that was simply handed to her.”

This is not the first time Hageman has characterized someone as “the weakest candidate” in a presidential race.

In 2016 , she said then candidate Donald Trump was “the weakest” and called him “somebody who is racist and xenophobic.”

Working alongside other supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz, Hageman attempted to force a vote on the convention floor between Trump and Cruz, but was unsuccessful.

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