Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters doubled down on his criticism of President Joe Biden’s diversity hires on Monday after left-wing media outlets misrepresented his earlier remarks.
After the Associated Press published an article lauding diverse leadership at the Federal Reserve, Masters sarcastically commented on social media, “Finally a compelling explanation for why our economy is doing so well.” Various media outlets — including NBC News, The New York Times, and Newsweek — suggested that Masters was merely blaming sexual and ethnic diversity at the central bank for the dismal state of the economy rather than making a broader point about the dangers of hiring people for reasons divorced from skill.
Masters, a venture capitalist backed by conservative entrepreneur and PayPal founder Peter Thiel, said in a video posted on social media that race and gender quotas for hiring are “unjust” and “illegal.”
“I don’t care if every single employee at the Fed is a black lesbian as long as they’re hired for their competence — not because of what they look like or who they sleep with,” Masters said. “News for Joe Biden — we are done with this affirmative action regime. I can’t think of a single policy since the end of Jim Crow that’s been worse or more divisive for race relations in this country.”
Biden has emphasized a “total transformation of government” centered upon diversity, equity, and inclusion — a policy that has impacted multiple appointment decisions. Masters noted that such priorities have led to officials such as Vice President Kamala Harris — who is “so incompetent she can’t even get a sentence out” — ascending to the highest levels of government.
“The Democrats are addicted to this kind of ‘identity politics’ garbage. They just care about how you look — not whether you’re the best qualified or whether you can do the best job,” Masters said. “There are real costs to this.”
Indeed, the United States met the rule-of-thumb definition of a recession — two consecutive quarters of negative growth — last month as the economy shrank at a 1.5% annualized rate in the first quarter and contracted at a 0.6% pace in the second quarter. Year-over-year inflation reached 8.5% in July 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a slight moderation from the 9.1% reading in the previous month driven by lower energy prices — even as costs for food, new vehicles, medical care, and shelter continue to rise.
Despite the nation’s economic woes, the Associated Press praised the ascension of three women and three African-Americans to the 19-member committee at the Federal Reserve charged with determining interest rate policies.
“There are more female, Black and openly gay officials contributing to the central bank’s interest-rate decisions than at any time in its 109-year history,” the outlet reported. “Many are also far less wealthy than the officials they have replaced. Over time, economists say, a wider range of voices will deepen the Fed’s perspective as it weighs the consequences of raising or lowering rates. It may also help diversify a profession that historically hasn’t been seen as particularly welcoming to women and minorities.”