‘Call it wokeness’: Republican House Majority Leader blames DEI for New Orleans terrorist attack
Hours after 15 lives were lost in the horrific New Orleans terrorist attack on New Year’s Day 2025, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) decided to blame the incident on DEI.
15 people were killed and dozens more injured when 42-year-old veteran and Texan Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s celebrators on New Orleans’ busy Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack, given that Jabbar made videos claiming to have joined ISIS and flew the group’s flag on the rear of his truck. Many are still seeking answers about why law enforcement failed to prevent the attack. A 2017 memo proves that law enforcement and government officials have been aware for years of the potential of a mass casualty vehicle-ramming attack due to the frequent heavy crowds on Bourbon Street. Yet, safety barriers that would’ve prevented a vehicle from entering were down and malfunctioning, with seemingly no safety alternative in place when Jabbar attacked.
An investigation will be needed to determine if the government or law enforcement could’ve done more to protect residents and tourists. However, Scalise opted not to wait for an investigation or details on what happened. Instead, he immediately declared that DEI initiatives were to blame for the fatal incident.
Rep. Steve Scalise uses New Orleans attack to push DEI hysteria
Scalise recently sat down with Tommy Tucker on WWL Radio in New Orleans to address the attack. During the appearance, he provided his theory on why the attack occurred. He suggested that a lack of vigilance on the part of Homeland Security was partially to blame, stating, “It seems the further away we get from September 11th, the closer we are to September 10th. It’s the attitude of ‘It can’t happen again.’ It just did…I think they let their guard down and are focused on things other than keeping our homeland safe… When they lose focus lives are lost.”
When questioned about what Homeland Security could’ve done differently to prevent a random attack from a man radicalized by ISIS, Scalise had a strange answer. He claimed that they needed to stop utilizing DEI measures. He stated, “Some of these agencies have gotten so wrapped up in the DEI movement — call it wokeness, call it whatever you want — where their main focus is on diversity and inclusion as opposed to security. And they’re two very different things. We’ve got to get back to that core mission.” Of course, there’s no evidence to support this odd theory that the government or law enforcement failed to stop Jabbar because they were distracted by DEI. After all, it’s unclear if there even were any signs that would’ve put Jabbar on their radar or hinted at his intentions before the attack.
Hence, Tucker pressed Scalise about whether he had any actual proof or was merely speculating. In response, Scalise claimed that DEI initiatives mean that Homeland Security is “moving away” from its mission of “keeping Americans safe,” which is why “things get missed.” During the interview, Scalise also falsely claimed that there hadn’t been a terrorist attack in America in a decade, even though an eerily similar vehicle-ramming terrorist attack occurred in Manhattan in 2017. Fortunately, Tucker called Scalise out for this lie, stating, “So, to throw the Homeland Security Department under the bus and say there was no attack prior to this, I don’t think is completely accurate.”
Tucker also shut down Scalise’s attempt to politicize the tragedy, stating, “Let’s clear up what happened here before we start making partisan political points.” Unfortunately, many Republican politicians refused to learn any details of the tragedy or give America time to grieve the 15 lives lost before they came in with their agendas. Immediately after the attack, Donald Trump falsely claimed the perpetrator was an illegal immigrant, while Sen. John Kennedy tried to use it to foster mistrust in the FBI. Now, Scalise has come in crying about DEI even when he can’t find a single thread connecting DEI programs to the horrific terrorist attack. It’s not the first time conservatives have used a tragedy to attack DEI, as many blamed the Trump assassination attempt solely on female Secret Service agents for no reason.
Given that Scalise didn’t even wait to learn the facts before blaming DEI, it shows that these politicians genuinely do not care about protecting America. They don’t actually want to know how or if Homeland Security/law enforcement failed to prevent the attack and how to prevent such shortcomings in the future. Instead, they’d rather America not find the real problems or solutions because then it means they can use the situation and loss of lives for their own personal, nonrelated beef with DEI.
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