- Kamala Harris announced last week that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is her vice presidential nominee.
Vice President Kamala Harris needed to pick a white man for her 2024 ticket, Charlamagne tha God claims.
The radio host said she was “disappointed” with Harris’ choice as her running mate, but said she did it to make Americans feel more “comfortable with a minority woman leading the Democratic ticket.”
Charlamagne called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Harris’ “DEI hire,” a reference to a term Republicans often use disparagingly to refer to minority hires they say are unqualified and were only selected to fill a certain demographic quota.
Harris announced Tuesday that Walz would join her 2024 campaign after narrowing it down to him and a handful of other white men.
“I learned about it a couple of weeks ago,” Charlamagne told ABC This Week host Jon Karl. “I was a little disappointed at first. We knew we needed to hire someone who was going to be about equality, equity and inclusion.”
Radio host Charlamagne Tha God said Vice President Kamala Harris had to choose a white man as her running mate.
“I needed a white man to make America comfortable,” he continued. “It is what it is.”
“We don’t have to act crazy. We know what it’s all about.”
Others who were considered for the job before Walz was selected included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, all white men.
President Joe Biden, 81, ended his re-election bid last month after weeks of pressure to step aside in a chain of events that began with his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Biden immediately endorsed Harris and she quickly took over his campaign infrastructure.
Walz, 60, secured his spot as Harris’ running mate during a meeting at the vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C., last weekend, where he met with Harris, Shapiro and Kelly.
People involved in the selection process say Walz’s low-ego attitude toward the No. 2 spot was what secured him the job.
Charlamagne claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is Harris’ “DEI hire”
“I’m not looking for anything else,” Walz assured Harris during their talk.
“I’m at the end of my career,” the father of two said, according to a report by Politico. “This isn’t about me. This is about America’s working families.”
Walz and Harris appeared together for the first time as running mates at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night.
Since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, the vice president has toured key states and now has her running mate on the road as well.
But Harris has yet to hold a news conference, sit down for an interview or answer a single question from reporters since entering the race for the job behind the decisive desk.