Satire: DEI and the Candidates

By Laurie Baron

SAN DIEGO — Now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee, former President Donald Trump’s supporters are labeling her the DEI candidate, implying that she attained all the positions she has held solely because she is a Black Asian American woman.

Now it is true that Howard University accepted her because it needed to fill its South Asian quota.  And when she was admitted to the Hastings Law School of the University of California, it probably was because she wasn’t a resident of the state then and Hastings sought greater geographical representation.  From then on, she managed to get elected to be San Francisco’s District Attorney, California’s Attorney General, California’s Senator, and Vice President of the United States, only because voters who recognized how unqualified she was nevertheless feared that they would be found guilty of violating affirmative action by the Federal government if she didn’t win.  Or maybe DEI in her case means she’s Democratic, Experienced, and Intelligent.

Although Trump condemns DEI policies, he too is their beneficiary.  As James Nolan, the admissions officer who granted him at interview at the Wharton School of Business, remembers, he did so as a favor to his friend Fred Trump Jr.  Many universities practice preferential treatment for applicants who can bring some green to their campuses. Trump’s tax cuts were based on the same principle. Since then, much of his success has resulted from his skin color.  As they say, “orange is the new black.” Finally, his presidency constituted a turning point for the unqualified who now had equal opportunities to be appointed to important governmental offices.  Yes, Trump is DEI too: Demagogic, Egotistical, and Inciteful.

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Laurie Baron is professor emeritus at San Diego State University.