Jasmine Crockett Mocks ‘Mediocre White Boys’ Complaining About DEI

Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett slammed “mediocre white boys” complaining about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, telling them: “If you are competent, you are not concerned.”

Newsweek has contacted Crockett, via email, for further comment. It has also contacted the White House, via email, for a response.

Why It Matters

On his first day in office President Donald Trump honored an election campaign promise to scrap Federal DEI programs by signing an executive order titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.” The following day, the administration sent a memo to department heads in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) offices directing them to inform employees that they are being placed on paid leave due to the closure of the office.

Debate about DEI has been rampant ever since and now Crockett, who has long been an advocate for DEI initiatives, has weighed in.

What To Know

Crockett was on CNN’s Laura Coates Live show, discussing the reported appointment of Darren Beattie—a speechwriter fired by Trump in 2018 after it emerged he had attended a conference with white nationalists—in a top State Department role.

Coates mentioned that Beattie, who previously told the Washington Post that he was not racist, posted last year: “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”

Crockett responded that “coddling for the white boys is what’s happening right now,” adding: “I am tired of the white tears. Listen, if you are competent, you are not concerned.”

She went on: “When I walk into Congress every single day, you know why I don’t feel a way and why you can’t make me doubt who I am is because I know that I had to work 10 times as hard as they did just to get into the seat. When you look and you compare me to Marjorie Taylor Greene or me to Lauren Boebert, there is no comparison. And that is the life that we have always lived.

“So, the only people that are crying are the mediocre white boys that have been beaten out by people that historically have had to work so much harder.”

Later on, while discussing Trump’s deportation plans, the Texas Democrat said: “The only people that came and colonized this place are your ancestors, Trump.”

Last year Crockett and Georgia rep Greene clashed in a heated exchange that went viral in which Greene responded to Crockett asking “do you know what we’re here for” with: “I don’t think you know what you’re here for … I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”

Crockett later asked the panel’s chairman, Kentucky Republican Representative James Comer, why Greene’s words were not viewed as a personal attack.

“I’m just curious. To better understand your ruling, if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleached blonde, bad-built, butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?” Crockett asked.

Greene later agreed to have her words taken down for the proceedings to continue, as requested by Comer, but she refused to apologize to Crockett.

What People Are Saying

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a press conference on Tuesday about Black History Month: “As far as I know, this White House certainly still intends to celebrate, and we will continue to celebrate American history and the contributions that all Americans, regardless of race, religion or creed, have made to our great country.”

U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a note he shared on X last Sunday, “DoD ≠ DEI,” adding, “No exceptions, name-changes, or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here.”

Rachel Noerdlinger, spokesperson for National Action Network, told New Jersey Advance Media: “Now more than ever, it’s imperative to recognize the companies that are not succumbing to the administration’s rollbacks and continue to highlight them.”

Timothy Welbeck, director of Temple University’s Center for Anti-Racism, told NPR: The United States cannot say that it’s fully been a meritocracy when we have 249 years of slavery, 90 years of racialized segregation and barred women from entering into the workforce in meaningful ways for much of our nation’s history. That’s not a meritocracy, denying people access and opportunities regardless of whether they’re qualified. When we look at this conversation around merit, it’s often thinly veiled attempts to try to undo various ways that have opened up opportunities for those who historically were denied them.

What Happens Next

The full impact of the Trump administration’s anti-DEI actions is yet to be seen.