Former GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California said calling Vice President Kamala Harris a "DEI candidate" is "stupid."
Appearing on "Meet the Press Now" on "NBC News NOW," McCarthy criticized his former colleagues who claim Harris was only tapped to be vice president as part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative.
DEI initiatives aim to promote inclusion of women, minorities and other marginalized groups.
"Two attacks I've heard Republicans give that are totally stupid and dumb to do is the DEI attack, OK?" McCarthy said. "The other attack that I would not do is saying that the president has to resign," he added. "That would be an advantage for Kamala."
Harris, who is of Black and South Asian descent, became the presumptive nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out and most prominent Democrats endorsed her.
"This DEI, that seems like a petty … look, I disagree with DEI, but she is the vice president of the United States, she is the former U.S. Senator," McCarthy said. "These congressmen that are saying it, they're wrong in their own instance."
Rep. Tim Burchett, D-Tenn. referred to Harris as a "DEI hire."
"The incompetency level is at an all-time high in Washington," Burchett wrote. "The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president."
Burchett was one of eight Republicans to vote for removing McCarthy as Speaker of the House. Burchett later accused McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidneys.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said Democrats were sticking with Harris because of her "ethnic background."
McCarthy's remarks come after House Republican leaders told lawmakers to stop making comments about Harris' race and gender and to focus on her policies, Politico reported.
In June, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, who is married to woman of South Asian descent, introduced the Dismantle DEI act, a bill that would eliminate all federal DEI programs and end DEI-related funding for any agencies receiving federal funds. Vance called the DEI agenda "a destructive ideology that breeds hatred and racial division."
"It has no place in our federal government or anywhere else in our society," Vance said. "I'm proud to introduce this legislation, which would root out DEI from our federal bureaucracy by eliminating such programs and stripping funding for DEI policies anywhere it exists. Americans' tax dollars should not be co-opted to spread this radical and divisive ideology — this bill would ensure they are not."