Chris Christie

communities that were really dense with millions of people in arid areas that have fired things like i'm pretty sure that was not dei that was probably a white dude who designed that like what are we doing well and i look i think you and i are saying the same thing i think that there's there's bad decisions that are made and you can't the other thing that i used to say to people all the time when i was governor was there's some things that i just can't help

communities that were really dense with millions of people in arid areas that have fired things like i'm pretty sure that was not dei that was probably a white dude who designed that like what are we doing well and i look i think you and i are saying the same thing i think that there's there's bad decisions that are made and you can't the other thing that i used to say to people all the time when i was governor was there's some things that i just can't help

Like, you know, you can do the very best you can, and there's some things you can't help. Now, people don't like to hear that. And part of it is that people just don't like when bad things happen for obvious reasons, and they need someone or something to blame. Now, you know, when you're also doing things that don't make sense to people, those become easy straw men to knock down, right?

Like, you know, you can do the very best you can, and there's some things you can't help. Now, people don't like to hear that. And part of it is that people just don't like when bad things happen for obvious reasons, and they need someone or something to blame. Now, you know, when you're also doing things that don't make sense to people, those become easy straw men to knock down, right?

So if people look at DEI, and I think a majority of the people in the country now feel this way, that maybe that's not the best way to be making some of these selections and choices of people for jobs, and maybe it should be based predominantly, if not exclusively, on competence.

So if people look at DEI, and I think a majority of the people in the country now feel this way, that maybe that's not the best way to be making some of these selections and choices of people for jobs, and maybe it should be based predominantly, if not exclusively, on competence.

And that's my point. My point is that just diversity in and of itself is not something that causes there not to be merit hires, okay? You can look at two resumes blind, and if your example is a really good one, whether it's Lloyd Austin or Pete Hegseth on the paper, Lloyd Austin has significantly more high-level experience to be Secretary of Defense than Pete Hegseth does.

And that's my point. My point is that just diversity in and of itself is not something that causes there not to be merit hires, okay? You can look at two resumes blind, and if your example is a really good one, whether it's Lloyd Austin or Pete Hegseth on the paper, Lloyd Austin has significantly more high-level experience to be Secretary of Defense than Pete Hegseth does.

I think that what has developed over time, because some people have taken that to an extreme, meaning the DEI implementation, is it allows people to think that, and in some instances they're absolutely true, it's absolutely true, that those decisions were made purely for the diversity part of it, with the merit being well below it.

I think that what has developed over time, because some people have taken that to an extreme, meaning the DEI implementation, is it allows people to think that, and in some instances they're absolutely true, it's absolutely true, that those decisions were made purely for the diversity part of it, with the merit being well below it.

Right. Look, I would give you the way that I tried to approach it. I became a U.S. attorney in New Jersey in 2002. I had never worked in the office before. So when I got there, I just did a lot of walking around the office to see, like, okay, who's here? And John, it was the whitest, malest office I had ever been in in my life. And it was, and I was coming from private law practice.

Right. Look, I would give you the way that I tried to approach it. I became a U.S. attorney in New Jersey in 2002. I had never worked in the office before. So when I got there, I just did a lot of walking around the office to see, like, okay, who's here? And John, it was the whitest, malest office I had ever been in in my life. And it was, and I was coming from private law practice.

So what I did was I said, look, I am forcing us to go out and recruit candidates who are African-American, Latino, Asian, women, and bring them to me. And if they're not good, I'm not going to hire them. But I'm convinced we're not seeing him.

So what I did was I said, look, I am forcing us to go out and recruit candidates who are African-American, Latino, Asian, women, and bring them to me. And if they're not good, I'm not going to hire them. But I'm convinced we're not seeing him.

And the aha moment for me on that concept and why it was the right way to go was there was a young guy that I hired very early on, African-American, University of Michigan, University of Penn Law School, clerk for Alan Page, the former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle. in the Supreme Court of Minnesota. Absolutely. Purple people leader. And he's from New Jersey. Grew up in Maplewood.

And the aha moment for me on that concept and why it was the right way to go was there was a young guy that I hired very early on, African-American, University of Michigan, University of Penn Law School, clerk for Alan Page, the former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle. in the Supreme Court of Minnesota. Absolutely. Purple people leader. And he's from New Jersey. Grew up in Maplewood.

And I said to him, why did you ever apply here before? And he said, because I knew people like me wouldn't get hired. And, you know, we then went about this process of hiring, you know, a large number of African-American, Latino, and Asian prosecutors. But I would tell you that every one of them checked both boxes.

And I said to him, why did you ever apply here before? And he said, because I knew people like me wouldn't get hired. And, you know, we then went about this process of hiring, you know, a large number of African-American, Latino, and Asian prosecutors. But I would tell you that every one of them checked both boxes.

They checked the box of they now look more like the community we represent than we did before. And these are really good lawyers.

They checked the box of they now look more like the community we represent than we did before. And these are really good lawyers.