President-elect Donald Trump said at a “Make America Great Again” rally on Sunday that he would repeal President Joe Biden's “diversity, equity and inclusion mandate” in favor of a merit-based system.
President Trump detailed his plans at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., after vowing to sign a number of executive orders reversing Biden administration policies on his first day.
“Every radical and stupid executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of me taking the oath of office. Oh, I'm going to have so much fun watching TV tomorrow,” Trump said. Ta.
He then focused on Biden's “diversity equity and inclusion mandate.”
“But we will end destructive and divisive diversity equity and inclusion mandates across government and the private sector and return our country to a meritocracy,” President Trump declared.
“You know, the Supreme Court ruled that America is allowed to follow meritocracy. That's what made America great in the first place,” he added. “This was a big, big verdict. A lot of people don't know, but it was a huge verdict.”
President Trump has not said which ruling he is referring to, but a 2023 court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions is a possibility.
“And we value character, ability and qualifications in every hiring decision,” President Trump said. “Now we're allowed to judge by ability, ability and genius. We don't have to hire people who don't know anything about what's going on to fly a rocket ship.”
President Trump first vowed to eliminate DEI programs across the federal government in 2023, following a court ruling on affirmative action. As Breitbart News' Pentagon correspondent Christina Wong reported, his selection for the role has led to a self-purge of DEI in the private sector and has put the Pentagon at risk as he seeks to remove military leaders who promoted DEI. The situation descended into what officials described as “absolute chaos.”
