Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) claimed during an interview over the weekend that Republicans do not understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives make sure that the “best of the best” are hired for jobs — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Booker made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Dana Bash when asked about the Trump administration taking “sweeping steps to reverse DEI initiatives across the United States.”

“This is stunning to me, especially because they’re really charging this word DEI as if it’s something that undermines the ability for the government to hire the best people,” Booker said.

“It’s actually the opposite of that,” he claimed. “When we’re trying to hire the best of the best, having a more inclusive search, to go to HBCUs or Hispanic-serving institutions, to find as big of an applicant pool as possible, to me, these are the kind of things that help us to hire the best of the best.”

Bash noted that Booker’s claims of what DEI is was “not the perception of a lot of Americans” and that a lot of Democrats realize that it’s a big problem for the party.

Booker responded by claiming that DEI was about making sure that “hiring processes should be inclusive of women and minorities, who often don’t get an opportunity to apply for the jobs because the search parameters are so narrow and so small.”

WATCH:

Cory Booker champions DEI: “They’re really charging this word DEI as if it’s something that undermines the ability for the government to hire the best people…it’s actually the opposite of that…To me, these are the kinds of things that help us to hire the best of the best.” ???? pic.twitter.com/a1yPsiMr7O

— Julia ???????? (@Jules31415) February 9, 2025