Mia Love, who last night became the first female African American Republican elected to Congress, disputed what she felt was the implication from CNN hosts Michaela Pereira and John Berman that race and gender factored into her election.
“This has nothing do with race,” Love said. “Understand that Utahans have made a statement that they’re not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender, that they want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity. …That’s really what made history here. Race, gender, had nothing to do with it.”
Pereira reiterated that their question was about why it had taken the GOP so long to elect a black woman, and what might need to happen for it to occur more often.
“In Saratoga Springs there are very few black residents,” Love replied. “I wasn’t elected because of the color of my skin, I wasn’t elected because of my gender. I was elected because of the solutions that I put at the table because I promised I would run a positive issues-oriented campaign and that’s what resonated.”
Watch the clip below, via CNN:
<iframe width='416' height='234' src='http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#/video/bestoftv/2014/11/05/ath-mia-love-midterm-victory.cnn' frameborder='0'></iframe>
“This has nothing do with race,” Love said. “Understand that Utahans have made a statement that they’re not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender, that they want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity. …That’s really what made history here. Race, gender, had nothing to do with it.”
Pereira reiterated that their question was about why it had taken the GOP so long to elect a black woman, and what might need to happen for it to occur more often.
“In Saratoga Springs there are very few black residents,” Love replied. “I wasn’t elected because of the color of my skin, I wasn’t elected because of my gender. I was elected because of the solutions that I put at the table because I promised I would run a positive issues-oriented campaign and that’s what resonated.”
Watch the clip below, via CNN:
<iframe width='416' height='234' src='http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#/video/bestoftv/2014/11/05/ath-mia-love-midterm-victory.cnn' frameborder='0'></iframe>