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The House majority leader did not provide any evidence when he said the "DEI movement" and "wokeness" are distracting agencies from implementing security measures.
U.S. House of Representatives Majority leader Steve Scalise is blaming the "DEI movement" and "wokeness" for the terror attack in New Orleans that left 14 people dead
The horrific attack occurred at a New Year's celebration over the weekend, during which a driver purposefully piloted his vehicle into a crowd of people before exiting and opening fire, killing 14 and injuring at least 35 others, according to the latest update via The Associated Press. The FBI have identified the attacker as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, an army veteran who was born in Texas and later radicalized to join ISIS, who was killed during a confrontation with police.
Scalise recently went on the WWL First News with Tommy Tucker podcast to discuss the attack, during which he fallaciously claimed that "some of these agencies have gotten so wrapped up in the DEI movement" that they've lost track of security measures.
"Call it wokeness, call whatever you want, but where their main focus is on diversity and inclusion as opposed to security, and they're two very different things and and we've got to get back to that core mission," he said. "And this has happened in the DoD as well, and we've pointed that out in DOD, we pointed out in homeland, we pointed out in the FBI. And so, you know, if nothing else, let's get back to these agencies focused on keeping Americans safe, period."
In reality, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that the attack was able to be carried out because the city was in the process of installing new vehicle bollards ahead of the Superbowl in February, according to The Washington Post, which were not up on New Year's Eve.
When Tucker asked if he has "any proof that diversity or equity inclusion contributed to missing this guy," Scalise could not provide it — only vaguely saying that "each agency has a mission, and when you move away from your main mission ... then you're missing out on what you're supposed to be doing, and that's when things get missed."
