The View’s Ana Navarro has declared JD Vance a “DEI hire” because he’s a self-proclaimed “hillbilly.”
The Republican talk show panelist made the comment on CNN NewsNight With Abby Phillip on Monday, after several Republican lawmakers made the same claim about Joe Biden’s last-minute replacement, Kamala Harris.
Navarro, in turn, focused on Vance’s rural heritage, which he drew on in his 2016 book “Hillbilly Elegy,” which evoked his Appalachian roots and his family in rural Kentucky.
In reality, Vance, 39, spent most of his childhood in a southwestern Ohio suburb. The novel has been turned into a Netflix movie, which Vance welcomed, as he used it to successfully secure his first term as a junior senator.
Navarro, 52, emphasized these facts during his scathing stripping of the potential vice president.
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The View’s Ana Navarro declared on Monday that JD Vance was a “DEI hire” because he is a self-proclaimed “hillbilly”
The Republican talk show panelist made the comment on CNN NewsNight With Abby Phillip on Monday, after several Republican lawmakers made the same claim about Joe Biden’s last-minute replacement, Kamala Harris.
“It’s hilarious when I hear JD Vance talk about Kamala Harris as a DEI hire,” began the self-proclaimed centrist who has long expressed disdain for Donald Trump.
“Because I think he got a book deal, I think he got a TV deal, I think he got a moving deal because he’s a DEI hire,” she said.
“You want to talk about DEI? You showed up and you were supposed to be the rural translator, which was sorely lacking on national television and in movies,” he continued.
“Let’s talk about hiring someone for what they stand for, for the color of their skin and where they come from. Let’s start with JD Vance.”
The criticism didn’t end there, as Navarro is sure to reference some of the other headlines surrounding the divisive candidate since he was named as Trump’s deputy less than two weeks ago.
“I’m a little surprised at the lack of vetting that seems to have gone into the Trump campaign, which had plenty of time to pick its vice president,” Navarro said as Vance faces criticism for denouncing some Democratic leaders as “single women” in 2021.
“I’m just amazed at all the things that came out.”
One of the scandals she appeared to indirectly reference was the one surrounding the senator and claims that he had sex with a couch, another claim that was aired in her book.
The self-proclaimed Republican who has been outspoken about her hatred of Donald Trump focused on Vance’s redneck heritage, which he himself mentioned in his 2016 book ‘Hillbilly Elegy.’
In reality, Vance (seen here as Usha Chilukuri Vance) spent most of her childhood in a suburb in southwestern Ohio, a fact she seemed to ignore as she leaned into her identity as an Appalachian descendant.
A week earlier, Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett suggested Harris was selected as Biden’s running mate solely because she is Black.
“It’s 100 percent a DEI hire,” the 59-year-old said, prompting lawmakers like Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming and Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin to express nearly identical sentiments.
“Their track record is, at best, dismal.”
Hageman also called Harris a “DEI hire” and referred to her as “intellectually, really the worst in the world.”
Grothman, in turn, told CBS News affiliate WDJT in Milwaukee that “Democrats feel they have to support her because of her ethnicity.”
On Monday, Navarro was having none of it, having expressed his displeasure over Vance’s “cat lady” comments that resurfaced the day before on The View.
“He, JD Vance, has been given all these opportunities to clean up his comment about the childless cat lady, and he has failed to do so,” Navarro said.
“He ended up apologizing to cats instead of women!” she added, referring to the senator’s messy apology.
A week earlier, several Republicans suggested that Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris was selected as Biden’s running mate solely because she is Black.
He then called the show of remorse disingenuous and said the Ohio senator “really means business.”
“Because that’s their intention,” she told co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behart and others.
“He has said more than once that he believes people without children are bad and should be punished… He wants people with children to have more voting rights. He wants people with children to pay less taxes.”
“But this is what I want to tell you,” Navarro continued. “There are women who don’t have children because they are free to choose to, and there are women like me who don’t have children because we couldn’t.
“And how dare you tell me that I am inferior? How dare you tell me that I have fewer rights and less voting rights than others?”
Vance voted against the Democrat-led IVF Rights Act last month, though he did support a GOP-sponsored bill, the IVF Protection Act, that would strip states of Medicaid funding if they banned IVF treatments.
During a Q&A with Kelly over the weekend, Vance explained that he was in favor of IVF within reason, and many conservative pundits and commentators like Ben Shapiro began to voice their concerns about the GOP vice president’s pick.
“I think we have to protect the right of Christian hospitals to operate as they wish,” he said. “But of course that is entirely consistent with promoting fertility treatments for parents who need them.”
The joke came a day after Navarro, a political strategist who considers herself a centrist, poked fun at Vance’s running mate’s recent ear injury following the assassination attempt earlier this month. The joke was met with laughter and applause.
Meanwhile, on the latest episode of his eponymous show, Shapiro joined the many who have jumped on the bandwagon of criticizing the senator amid the outrage the resurfaced interview has incited.
“I think he probably would have picked someone like Glenn Youngkin of Virginia in an attempt to broaden his base,” he said, referring to Republican candidate Trump.
‘Instead, he went with JD Vance, feeling that, as he was right at the time, he had a very solid lead in the race against Joe Biden.’
Harris, who has not yet been officially confirmed as the Democratic nominee, has yet to announce a running mate.
Meanwhile, Navarro faced some backlash last week for mocking Vance’s running mate’s recent ear injury following an assassination attempt last weekend.
“What we saw yesterday was a repeat of Trump’s constant 90-minute rallies,” he said.
“It’s a shame the bandage was just over the ear. It should have been over the mouth.”