Allies urge Trump to minimize DEI attacks and focus on Harris’ ‘terrible’ record: ‘This is the wrong hole’

Former President Trump’s allies are urging him to limit his campaign against former Vice President Kamala Harris to political attacks and refrain from commenting on her character or physical characteristics.

This comes as some close to the former president have denigrated Harris as a “DEI candidate” – a criticism that others close to Trump say could alienate moderate and independent voters.

“I mean, it’s certainly not the rhetoric that I would focus on. I would focus on her merits for the job,” Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, who was previously a key adviser to Trump’s 2020 campaign, told Fox News Digital.

“This woman is just not ready to be the commander in chief of the country. And I think that’s what Republicans should be focusing on instead of doing what Democrats are doing, which is shaming someone based on the color of their skin or their gender. This is all about performance. And that’s why I think DEI is the wrong hole.”

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Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are likely to face each other in November (Getty Images)

Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, who served in Trump’s Cabinet, said: “I think Trump will point out that she was even worse at policy than Biden and that the tasks assigned to her led to failures… I don’t think he’s going to get involved in the personal attacks.”

Trump, for his part, has indicated that border policy will be a cornerstone of his criticism of Harris, holding a press conference with reporters to discuss the “border bloodbath of failed border czar Kamala Harris.”

Harris announced her candidacy for president on Sunday evening after President Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.

Some on the right then accused her of being chosen as Biden’s vice president only because of the principles of “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI), citing her poor poll numbers and the pressure on Biden in 2020 to nominate a black woman as his running mate.

Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee called Harris the “DEI Vice President” in a post on X Monday.

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Rep. Ryan Zinke said he expected Trump to refrain from personal attacks (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Personal accusations don’t work in politically successful campaigns,” another House Republican told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “So let’s stop with that stuff.”

Trump’s ally, Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida, told Fox News Digital: “I hope that Americans will not vote for people based on their race or the color of their skin. I think we’re over that… She’s owned every part of the Biden-Harris administration for three and a half years. And that’s what you need to focus on.”

Trump 2024 campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt sharply criticized Harris in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying she must be “held accountable for her own terribly poor crime record in California.”

“Kamala Harris is as weak, failed and incompetent as Joe Biden – and she’s also dangerously liberal. Kamala must not only defend her support of Joe Biden’s failed agenda over the past four years, she must also answer for her own horribly poor crime record in California,” Leavitt said. “A vote for Kamala is a vote for more crime, inflation, open borders, high gas prices and war around the world, and our team will make sure every American knows that.”

Several Republican lawmakers told Fox News Digital that House Republican leadership urged its members to refrain from attacks on Harris’ personality and physical characteristics during a closed conference session Tuesday morning.

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However, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tended to attack Harris (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., who went through a difficult election as New York State Republican chairman and even tried to tap Trump as his gubernatorial candidate, called these personal attacks “noise.” He said, “It’s really important to continue to talk about politics. This is an economic election. It’s about the economy and the fears that the middle class in particular has right now.”

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But not all Trump allies agree. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, one of Trump’s top campaign aides, told Fox News Digital the day before: “I think everyone knows that.”

“She wasn’t chosen because she was highly rated by Democratic voters across the country. She was chosen for a reason. And unfortunately, it appears that her gender and perhaps the color of her skin played a role in that,” Greene said, adding that she also expected the Trump campaign to attack Harris over her policies.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris team for comment.