CNN commentator Ashley Allison accused the network and former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden of racial and gender discrimination while defending Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Allison made the outlandish claim while debating Scott Jennings, who supported President Trump’s decision to scrap the policy.
Allison said that as a “black woman in this country,” she does “not have the same opportunity” as the other panelists.
“I do not have the same opportunity as you. I know I don’t. And you know that too,” Allison said.
“I’m not talking about how you feel. I’m talking about how I feel, me, a black woman in this country,” she continued after Jennings interrupted her.
She continued to list her qualifications, which she said include a law degree, a master’s, and two bachelor’s degrees – which she claimed is probably more than all the panelists combined.
“And I have always been the least-paid person on payroll at every institution I have worked in, and it’s not because…,” she dropped the bombshell.
One of the panelists sought clarification on whether even a Democratic White House paid her less than other employees for being a black woman.
“Even in the White House?” Asked the panelist.
“Even in the White House,” Allison confirmed.
The panelist also suggested that it was the Left’s problem as she did not work for Republicans when the alleged racial discrimination occurred.
“Whose fault is that?” he asked. “I don’t think you worked for George W. or Trump.”
Allison worked for Obama as a senior policy advisor and the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, managing associate directors who worked with leaders in the African American community and other groups, such as LGBTQ+.
She also worked for the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020, which, according to her statement, must also have underpaid her based on her race and gender.
Ironically, she also inadvertently accused CNN of racial discrimination by stating that she did not have the same opportunity as other panelists. Similarly, claiming that she has always been the least paid in every institution she has worked for, suggests that even CNN was underpaying her.
Either she was lying, or Democrats have actually racially discriminated against her, with the former being the most likely. Her credibility took a nosedive when she claimed that DEI did not exist when she worked at the White House between 2014 and 2017, while Obama had already introduced it in August 2011 under Executive Order 13583. It is also unfathomable that someone employed to fight discrimination would herself be subjected to it.
While Allison’s racial discrimination claims at CNN and the White House are hard to believe, the policy she defends perpetuates racial discrimination.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s race-based college admissions practices. The court stated that the practices violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection clause.
According to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), “DEI policies are nothing more than state-sanctioned racial discrimination.”
