‘Let’s Go By The Policies’: GOP Senators Tell CNN’s Manu Raju They Want Trump to Focus on Issues Not Harris’s Race

CNN’s chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, asked Republican senators on Thursday to react to former President Donald Trump saying that Vice President Kamala Harris recently “turned Black.”

Raju, who is known for chasing down members of Congress for quotes, posted some of those reactions on X – starting with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

“I don’t think so,” Raju reported Graham told CNN when asked if Trump should have questioned if Harris is Black. “I’ve known the vice president for a while she’s always embraced her heritage proudly, as she should. My problem with Vice President Harris is the policy choices she’s made. I mean, she’s lived a consequential life and on policy — the country is on fire. The world is on fire and the country’s in decline and we need new leadership.”

Raju went on to report that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called the comments a “distraction.”

“I think anything that takes us away from the failure of the economy, the failure of the border and the failure of national security, in my opinion, is a distraction,” Tillis reportedly added. Raju added:

John Cornyn didn’t want to weigh in.

“People make their own — make their own judgement about stuff,” he said when asked if Trump’s comments are appropriate.

Asked about Trump and other Rs saying Harris could be a DEI hire, Cornyn said: “Well, there’s long been a thought in some circles that she was chosen because of her race and because she was female and that was something that President Biden needed in order to have a balanced ticket and appeal to the voters… So those are sort of political considerations every candidate makes.”

Raju noted that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) also said, “She’s an American. He’s an American. He’s been a rich TV star. She’s been in politics. Let’s go by the policies. That’s what I want to go by.”