Democrats, Republicans begin the wooing of AAPI voters

AAPI VICTORY FUND

Joe Biden meets with members of the AAPI Victory Fund, one of the former vice president's earliest endorsers.

Using APA Heritage Month as a backdrop, two powerful endorsements in the 2020 Presidential race bid may be an indication what direction the crucial AAPI electorate will vote for this November.

As if to counter Biden's courting of the AAPI vote, Thursday evening, the Trump campaign debuted its "Asian Americans for Trump" initiative chaired by Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.

Exit polls show Trump won just 18% of the AAPI vote in 2016, compared to Hillary Clinton's 79%. In February, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee survey found that AAPI voters in battleground districts favor Democratic candidates to Trump by 28 points.

AAPI who served in the Obama administration announced their endorsement a week ago of former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Their declaration of support comes about five weeks after President Obama gave his endorsement to his former running mate.

"All of us served with Vice President Joe Biden in the Obama-Biden administration. We watched him help 20 million Americans gain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. We watched him lift our country out of the depths of the Great Recession. And we watched him build stronger ties with our allies and stand up to our adversaries abroad," the former officials said in a joint statement.

"Most importantly, all of us saw Joe Biden''s empathy, his decency, and his commitment to expanding opportunity for all Americans. He has a deep appreciation for the contributions of AAPI and a keen understanding of the challenges still facing the community," they said.

"Now more than ever, we need a President who values our nation''s diversity and will fight to create a more fair and just country. That person is Joe Biden. We are proud to endorse him for President and support him in this fight to restore the soul of our nation," they said in the statement.

The same day that Biden received the endorsement from former Obama appointees, another influential group of Asian Americans, ASPIRE, the political arm of Asian American and Pacific Islander Congressmembers, also announced their support for Biden on Friday. Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, chair of the political action committee, issued the endorsement statement:

“We need a president that will unite Americans, instead of taking every opportunity to divide us from one another. Joe Biden will lead us through this unprecedented crisis with science, integrity, and compassion,” 

 “He has been a strong ally of AAPIs throughout his service in the Senate and Obama administration, and he understands that diversity makes our country great. As president, he will stand with AAPIs and ensure that Americans from all communities are treated with dignity and respect.”

More than 11 million Asian American voters will be able to cast their ballots this year, making up nearly 5% of the nation’s eligible voters. They are also the only major racial or ethnic group in which naturalized citizens – rather than the US born – make up a majority of eligible voters, according to a Pew Research Center report.

Both Democrats and Republicans have increased outreach to the Asian American communities but according to AAPI Data, the majority of the Asian American electorate leans towards the Democratic Party. Vietnamese American voters tend to trend towards the GOP.

In the 2018 election, 77 percent of AAPI voters supported a Democratic House candidate. Support of Asian American voters was critical in the 2018 midterm elections delivering traditional Republican districts to the Democrats.

For maximum impact, the key endorsements was timed to come out about the same time that Biden co-wrote a piece with Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., for NBC Think, condemning the racism and discrimination directed toward the Asian American community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also slammed Trump’s use of phrases like the “Chinese virus,” writing that the language stokes xenophobia.

"Ironically, May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In the face of such intolerance, this month reminds us that it's as important as ever to honor the AAPI community's service to this country — as teachers, doctors, troops, you name it — as well as recognize the consequences of the fear-mongering and outright racism that have been on the rise throughout Trump's presidency," wrote Biden and Duckworth.

Republicans, through Fox News, Thursday brought up past flubs Biden ha had with the AAPI community.

“Joe Biden has disregarded and ridiculed the Asian Pacific American community while President Trump and Republicans continue to champion Asian Pacific Americans, build meaningful relationships, and honor their heritage, sacrifices, and accomplishments," Republican National Committee (RNC) Asian Pacific Americans (APA) media director Marina Tse told Fox News.

AAPI voters are getting the attention from Republicans and Democrats..

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign used the online event as another opportunity to blame China for the United States economic troubles and as the origin of the coronavirus.
Republicans have touted its increased engagement with Asian Americans, efforts to combat hate crimes, and economic progress -- noting, for example, that Asian Americans received on average the largest amount from the GOP tax bill.

"This November, we must vote for the candidate who is actually fighting for us, not the one who using us as a political pawn," Tse, the RNC APA spokesperson, told Fox News.

Following are the Asian American and Pacific Islanders who served in the Obama administration and have endorsed Biden:

• Kiran Ahuja, Executive Director, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and PacificIslanders
• Gaurab Bansal, Deputy White House Cabinet Secretary
• Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
• Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer
• Steve Chu, Secretary of Energy
• Nani Coloretti, Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Nancy-Ann DeParle, White House Deputy Chief of Staff
• Chris Kang, Deputy Counsel to the President
• Esther Kia’aina, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas
• Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, Department of State
• Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health
• Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce; U.S. Ambassador to China
• Chris Lu, Deputy Secretary of Labor
• Seema Nanda, Chief of Staff, Department of Labor
• Dr. Tung Nguyen, Chair, President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
• Sonal Shah, Director, White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
• Rhea Suh, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget
• Doua Thor, Executive Director, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
• Rich Verma, U.S. Ambassador to India
• Jenny Yang, Chair, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission