Louisiana Republican Senate candidate Rep. Julia Letlow is striking back against an attack campaign from incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy highlighting her past involvement with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Letlow is challenging Cassidy in the upcoming U.S. Senate primary. She joined the “Fox News Rundown” podcast to defend her record, arguing that DEI programs she once oversaw were “hijack[ed]” by the political left and turned into “Marxism.”

“DEI six years ago was introduced in higher education as something that could be a tool to encourage students, staff, faculty to work hard and go achieve the American dream,” Letlow told Fox News Radio’s Jessica Rosenthal.

“I quickly witnessed the left completely hijack any of those efforts and turn it into indoctrination of our students, Marxism, holding people down instead of lifting them up,” she added.

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Ads supporting Cassidy highlight Letlow’s past comments from 2020 in which she advocated for diversity initiatives and described herself as a “progressive” leader. Letlow formerly worked in higher education, and her campaign website notes she is “committed to fighting for a brighter future for children and future generations.”

In a 2020 video from Letlow’s hiring process while she was interviewing to be the president of the University of Louisiana Monroe, Letlow called the school’s record on faculty gender diversity “shameful,” praised DEI efforts around the country and said she wanted to open the school’s first DEI division.

Letlow said the DEI issue is more complex than the ads suggest, arguing it was initially presented as a tool for student success but later was distorted into something she opposes.

“Once I witnessed that firsthand because I was in education, I spent the last five years in Congress fighting against it,” she said.

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“That’s why I authored the Parents’ Bill of Rights to root out DEI in our K-12 programs. That’s why I supported the End Woke and Higher Education Act in Congress. And it’s why I’ve voted continuously to get DEI out of our military and out of our academies, while Sen. Cassidy voted time and time again to entrench it even further,” she added.

The primary race has drawn attention from President Donald Trump, who has criticized Cassidy since the senator’s 2021 vote to convict him in his Senate impeachment trial. Trump endorsed Letlow earlier this year.

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Letlow, who won a 2021 special election following the death of her husband, says her Senate bid is aimed at protecting the “America First” agenda. Cassidy pushed back on her challenge, pointing to his conservative record.

“Congresswoman Letlow called me this morning to say she was running. She said she respected me and that I had done a good job,” Cassidy said in a statement.

“I will continue to do a good job when I win re-election. I am a conservative who wakes up every morning thinking about how to make Louisiana and the United States a better place to live.”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.