VDH: The DEI Scam is Falling Apart, and Trump Broke It.

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why are even black and Hispanic Americans rejecting it? What does Trump get right that DEI advocates can’t answer? And how did elites like Elizabeth Warren and Zohran Mamdani game the system? Victor Davis Hanson answers these questions and explains how DEI’s unravelling will pan out on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ It predicates hiring, retention, promotion, tenure on the color of your skin and not the content of your character, or your gender or your sexual orientation. And so, it's a winning issue for Donald Trump, when you look at the polls. It's not just that 60% of so-called white people, who often feel they're victimized by DEI are opposed, but Hispanics and blacks also poll that they are against it. And people—that's baffled people. But it's kind of obvious when you think about it. It's commonsensical. “DEI was based on poverty and past documented racism. … Mr. Mamdani says he's a minority and he is black, and he needs special preference. He also said he was gonna go after “white or affluent neighborhoods.” He's Indian American. His family originally came from India. Indian Americans, according to our census, are the wealthiest, most privileged ethnic group in America.So, what I'm getting at is your skin color no longer can be correlated, exactly, with your class.” 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com (0:00) The Decline of DEI (3:05) Criticisms of DEI (3:16) Evolution of Affirmative Action (4:52) Challenges in a Multiracial Society (5:27) Abuse and Misrepresentation in DEI (7:31) Class vs. Race in DEI (9:28) The Future of DEI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.6	DEI is dying. Three years ago, it was in the ascendance. When Donald Trump came into power, he tried to abolish it by a series of executive orders.
0:40.3	It's a racially biased program. It predicates hiring, retention, promotion, tenure on your gender or your sexual orientation,
0:49.3	and the color of your skin and not the content of your character. It's kind of obvious when you think about it. It's commonsensical.
0:55.0	People who are very skilled who happen to be non-white don't want to be stigmatized when they have achieved a job through
1:01.0	Ameriocratic criteria, their own ability or intellect or hard work.
1:05.0	But here's why it's going to implode and why Donald Trump is going to win this argument.
1:09.0	There's at least three criticisms of diversity, equity, inclusion that they cannot answer.
1:14.6	Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal.
1:31.2	DEI, the acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion is dying.
1:36.4	We had this conversation three years ago.
1:38.6	It was in the ascendance.
1:41.1	But when Donald Trump came into power by a series of executive orders, he tried to abolish it, and he could abolish it because entities that receive it and receive federal funds can be leveraged to drop it in order to retain their federal funding.
1:59.0	And why did Donald Trump not like it?
2:02.3	Because he said the emperor has no clothes.
2:05.7	It's a racially biased program.
2:08.3	It predicates hiring, retention, promotion, tenure
2:13.2	on the color of your skin
	...

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