Boebert's "DEI hire" remark towards Karine Jean-Pierre causes blowback

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is experiencing some blowback after calling White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre a “DEI hire” in a recent rant on social media, blasting the Biden spokesperson for doing her job: speaking to the press.

“I couldn’t care less about what @PressSec has to say today,” Boebert wrote in a post on X. “It’s between 10 am-4 pm which means “president” Joe Biden supposedly should be coherent enough to take a few questions from the press. Instead, Americans are supposed to listen to the discredited DEI hire.”

Jean-Pierre, whose daily press briefings are among her core responsibilities, has served since 2022 and was hired after a year-long stint as deputy press secretary under Jen Psaki.

“DEI hire,” which refers to corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, is one of the far-right’s newest racial attacks, critics say. It’s been lobbed at Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, former Harvard President Claudine Gay, and other prominent Black public figures by right-wing social media users.

X users immediately blasted the comments towards Jean-Pierre as racist, with some pointing out that Boebert is, on paper, much less qualified by comparison.

“DEI hire vs a GED hire. You have a lot of nerve nasty lady,” Florida Democratic candidate Mike Harvey wrote on X.

Boebert, who has faced allegations of being severely underqualified for her own post since she first ran, swapped House districts in Colorado after whittling down a GOP powerhouse seat into a near-toss-up in 2022.

Jean-Pierre, a Columbia University graduate with experience in Democratic communications dating back to 2004 and earlier, is the first Black and first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in the role.

Boebert, who rattled off at least three tweets in as many days referring to a report citing one unnamed Biden aide claiming the president’s workday runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., has yet to speak on rumors of her party’s candidate’s cognitive challenges.