Revisionist History: Democrats Now Claim DEI Is Guaranteed In The Constitution

The US House of Representatives’ top Democrat recently made a bold case in favor of “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the set of intentionally biased quotas often used in hiring and admissions among “woke” institutions across the private and public sectors.

Insisting that DEI has represented the American ideal since its inception, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) went on to describe those who disagree with his questionable take as “extremists.”

Here’s what the Daily Caller reported:

“No matter what these extremists are trying to do with their all-out assault on civil rights, on voting rights, certainly on diversity, equity and inclusion — and we won’t let these extremists get away with lying to the American people,” the New York Democrat maintained. “They want to suggest that diversity, equity, and inclusion are foreign values. They’re not foreign values, they’re American values.”

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“Let’s just check the record. The motto of this great country, ‘E pluribus unum,’ that’s the motto of this great country, ‘Out of many, one.’ That’s diversity,” Jeffries continued. “One of the most important constitutional amendments in this country, a Reconstruction amendment, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, contains the Equal Protection Clause. And the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment promises equal protection under the law. That’s equity.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced his department would scrap racial and gender quotas for promotions in a Sept. 30 speech to assembled general and flag officers. Hegseth also said that there would only be one combat fitness standard that all troops serving in combat roles would be required to meet.

“And all across this country, from sea to shining sea, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, when people say the Pledge of Allegiance, they pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That’s inclusion,” Jeffries said. “So, diversity, equity, and inclusion — we’re teaching the extremists something — these aren’t foreign values, these are American values. And when you attack diversity, equity, and inclusion, you attack the United States of America.”

Leftists like Jeffries might be pivoting toward the threadbare constitutional defense because DEI is losing in the court of public opinion.

Company after company have responded to a tidal wave of outrage from customers:

Major brands like Tractor Supply, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s, Walmart, McDonald’s, and Target are pulling back amid consumer pushback and regulatory scrutiny on DEI. pic.twitter.com/3MJ3FibU1d

— Fox News Flash (@FoxNews_Flash) March 31, 2026

Here’s the list of companies so far who abandoned DEI:

Meta
McDonald’s
Walmart
Boeing
Molson Coors
Lowe’s
Ford
Jack Daniels
Harley Davidson
John Deere
Tractor Supply
Toyota
Nissan
Caterpillar Inc

The DEI grift is dying.

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 10, 2025

CHOPPING BLOCK: The fast-food giant has revealed plans to reduce DEI efforts, following a trend of major companies rethinking woke policies. Last year, several big names, like Walmart, Ford, John Deere, Lowe's and Toyota, made similar moves. https://t.co/vkBn31OWtN pic.twitter.com/LqlkfVBeDP

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 7, 2025

While he’s misinterpreting the nation’s founding principles to suit his party’s radical agenda, he’s still got the temerity to claim that it’s President Trump who poses the actual existential threat.

According to Axios:

Driving the news: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday that Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will host a virtual briefing Friday afternoon “on Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment.”

• “Shockingly, Donald Trump threatened to escalate his war of choice in a profane Easter Sunday rant and to eradicate an entire civilization,” Jeffries wrote, referring to Trump’s Truth Social posts.
• “We will continue to unleash maximum pressure on Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping the madness.”

State of play: Trump’s declaration Tuesday on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if the Iranian regime did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz led to an eruption of calls from Democratic lawmakers for his removal.

• More than 85 House Democrats, along with a pair of Democratic senators, called for Trump to be impeached or for Vice President J.D. Vance and the Cabinet to convene and remove Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment.

And here’s a clip of Jeffries’ comments:

🚨 JUST IN: Hakeem Jeffries LIES through his teeth

"When you attack DEI, you attack America! They put Pete Hegseth in charge of the attack. He can't organize a 2-car funeral!" 🤡

FACT CHECK: Pete organized the DESTRUCTION of Iran in incredible fashion!pic.twitter.com/BbHGAqnnoV

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 9, 2026