'That's just not true!' Black journalist pushes back at attorney's DEI example

On CNN's newly launched "Table for Five" with host Abby Phillip, journalist Cari Champion butted heads with attorney Arthur Aidala during a heated discussion over companies abandoning their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.

Conservative complaints about DEI has led to unfounded and unjust attacks on a multitude of government and corporate employees who are not white and male and Champion pointed out that if one if not white with an Ivy League education you become a target.

"You think about Ketanji Jackson, our [Supreme Court] Justice and I think of this woman and how hard she worked and they said she was a DEI justice," she stated. "And I thought to myself –– or like when you look at Kamala Harris or people who have went to Harvard and Yale and have the same exact, the same exact resume as their white counterpart, their white male counterpart, DEI is so trendy."

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"And when it comes from someone from a conservative side and they label that, it becomes this truth," she noted. "I often ask my question when I look at [Fox News personality] Pete Hegseth, I wonder, if they say he's a DEI candidate, would that be unfair to say? I don't know why we can't use them? Cha cha cha cha cha. Why we can't use the same words?"

As attorney Aidala leaned into her reply, she added, "I know, I'm gonna let you get to it. But why can't we use the same words that they use on us? "

"But it comes from the United States Supreme Court," the attorney interjected. "The decision last year about the Harvard admissions, and they just said it violated the 14th Amendment and it really had to do with, I think, Asian students who were being excluded from going to Harvard because there were too many Asian students."

"Their grades were very high and so that's where this all comes from," he added. "Corporate America is basically following, well, if they did it to Harvard –– don't worry, I can't even spell Harvard so, you know, I'm not from Harvard –– if they're going to rule there the next stop is corporations because you're only hiring this person because of the DEI.''

"That's just not true!" Champion exclaimed as CNN host Phillip stepped in.

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