Nevada governor calls GOP politician's remarks about his Chinese American wife "Vile" and "racist"

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Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and his wife, Kathy Ong Sisolak.

A storm of controversy is swirling around a Nevada official after her false comments against the Kathy Sisolak, wife of Gov. Gov. Steve Sisolak.

Nevada''s First Lady, formerly Kathy Ong, was born in Ely, Nevada and is the co-founder and director of Hobbs, Ong & Associates — one of the state’s top financial consulting firms.

Nevada's Democratic governor is calling on Republicans to denounce the anti-Asian remarks y Nye County Commissioner Donna Cox that was directed at his wife, the daughter of immigrants from China.

Cox on Tuesday accused Sisolak’s wife of profiting from the coronavirus pandemic according to a Sunday report from the Nevada Independent.

“I’m going to tell you all something about the governor, and I have a picture of the governor and his wife in order to prove this,” Cox said. “… Well, a few months after he won he married his wife. Now how long he’d known her I have no idea, but she is Chinese. And you put two and two together, they actually said that her family in China own a company that’s making a lot of money off of this issue. That she’s here in the United States promoting and selling all these masks and emergency equipment and everything, and they’re all being shipped over from China. So that’s why I call it monetarial. Is there any better reason in the world to want to do a mask mandate? That’s a direct conflict of interest. Maybe he should step aside. He shouldn’t be involved in this.”

The three-term Republican commissioner offered no evidence to support those claims. She told a reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal she "didn't have time to talk" about them on Monday.

Gov. Sisolak called on Republicans to denounce Cox's remarks.

"I am furious after hearing vile, blatantly racist comments made against my wife—a Nevadan who has dedicated her life to making our state a better place.

"There is no room for this type of hateful speech from anyone, especially not from an elected official. Kathy and I, along with so many others, have worked hard to fight back against the anti-Asian racism brought on by misinformation regarding COVID-19, but comments like these only take us backward.

"They hurt our community, our state, and the ones we love. Now is a time we should be coming together to get us through what has been one of the hardest times for our state, not attacking one another. I urge every Nevada Republican elected official and candidate to join me in calling out this bigotry.

Nevada's GOP responded Tuesday on social media: "The recent comments about First Lady Kathy Sisolak were hurtful and misleading. Nevadans expect our public officials to conduct themselves at a higher standard. The county commissioner who made the bigoted and disrespectful comments should apologize immediately."

Cox, a three-term Republican commissioner, offered no evidence to support her  allegations. She told a reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal she "didn't have time to talk" about them on Monday and still hasn't offered any sort of apology.

The AAPI Democratic Caucus of Southern Nevada issued a statement: “Hate is the virus we don’t have a vaccine for. We demand accountability for these racist remarks and we call on all leaders, regardless of party affiliation, to condemn these remarks and recommit to working together to combat all forms of hate and violence.”