Trump's racism is showing, calls India and China 'hellholes'

GRAPHIC BY FOSSBYTES

Donald Trump no longer even tries to hide his racism anymore. He has once again set the AAPI community on fire, this time by hitting "repost" on a racist, xenophobic screed that labels India and China as "hellholes."

The post, shared on Truth Social, wasn't just a random jab; it was a transcript from Michael Savage’s podcast that took aim at birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment. 

The rant didn’t stop at the "hellhole" label, either. It painted Indian and Chinese immigrants as "gangsters with laptops" who "step on our flag" while allegedly scamming the U.S. immigration system to bring in their entire families.

Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and char of the Congressional Asian Pacific Americans Caucus (CAPAC), warned that amplifying this bigotry "pours fuel on an already dangerous fire" for Asian Americans.

For those of us watching the rise in anti-Asian hate, this rhetoric is a terrifyingly familiar dog whistle.

'Gangsters with laptops'

The reposted tirade accused Indian and Chinese professionals in the US tech industry of being "gangsters with laptops" who do not hire white native-born Americans.

The post targeted Indian immigrants specifically, claiming they lack English proficiency and suggesting an "internal mechanism" exists to favor Indian and Chinese hiring in tech.

The shared text alleged that immigrants from China and India are "stepped on our flag" and use birthright citizenship to "drop a baby in the ninth month...and then bring in all ancestors from India/China."

By accusing pregnant mothers of arriving in the US in their ninth month to "dorp a baby" in order to secure US citizenship. Trump used the podcast to inflame racists who support him to try and pressure the US Supreme Court in a case before them that seeks to challenge the 14th Amendment that guarantees birthright citizenship.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who was born in India, blasted Trump's comments as "disgusting" and "rooted in white supremacy."

View from the edge

It is not the first time Trump has shown his true colors. Critics argue that Donald Trump's use of phrases like "Kung Flu" or "Chinese Virus" during the COVID-19 pandemic fueled anti-Asian sentiment, contributing to a framatic rise in hate-fueld incidents documented by groups like Stop AAPI Hate.

By consistently linking the virus to China, critics argue Trump encouraged a "Yellow Peril" stereotype, framing Asian Americans as "perpetual foreigners" or disease carriers responsible for the pandemic's impact on the US.

A 2020 report from Stop AAPI Hate described Trump as a major "spreader" of anti-Asian rhetoric, which they linked to a surge in harassment, verbal assaults, and physical attacks against Asian Americans.

The fallout from the most recent tirade wasn't just domestic. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs called the remarks "uninformed" and "in poor taste." Meanwhile, the US Embassy in New Delhi scrambled to do damage control. Rather than a direct apology, Trump issued a statement through the Embass, saying, "India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top," referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trump's immigration policy reflects his bias while dissuading immigration from "s--thole" countries, primarily from Africa, the Middle Est and the Caribbean, he wished more white immigrants would come from European countries and South Africa.

But for the AAPI community, the damage is already done. When the leader of the country signals that your ancestral homeland is a "hellhole" and your professional success is a "scam," it’s more than just bad politics — it's a target on our backs.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell votes against his own inter-racial marriage

Senator Mitch McConnell and his wife former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which includes the protection of interracial marriages, despite being married to former US Secretary for Transportation Elaine Chao, who is Taiwanese American.

The Respect For Marriage Act would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and would require each state to recognize marriages that are valid in the state where they were performed.

The RFMA was introduced out of fear that the conservative-majority Supreme Court, which earlier this year overturned Roe v. Wade, might do the same thing to the long-standing Loving vs. Virginia ruling that legalized interracial marriage and the Obergefell vs. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

McConnell, who was re-elected by the GOP Senate Minority Leader last week, never really explained his opposition to the RFMA, but Senate watchers speculated that it was his opposition to the same-sex marriage provision that prompted his nay.

He was equally mum when Trump delivered his racial slur against his wife via social media as he was criticizing McConnell's apparent support for some other Democratic legislation. However, on CNN, former McConnell aide said Trump's comments were out of line. "This is outrageous, it's beyond the pale, every Republican ought to say so," he said.

Trump insulted McConnell's wife in a post on his Truth Social website last month, calling Chao McConnell's "China-loving wife, Coco Chow." He also said McConnell had a "death wish" for backing "Democrat-sponsored bills," in the same post.

Despite McConnell's opposition to the RFMA, the Senate on Nov. 16 advanced legislation moving it closer to becoming law.

The 62 to 37 vote was a crucial test of support for the RFMA. With the backing of 12 Republican members, the Senate easily cleared the 60-vote procedural hurdle needed to move the legislation forward. Drafters of the plan were optimistic it would garner enough backing from the GOP after a bipartisan group of senators added amendments to the bill to include protecting religious liberty.

The RFMA passed the House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote in July.

Because of the amendment, the House will take another look at the bill before going to President Biden's desk for his signature. The White House urged passage of the measure.

"The right to marriage confers vital legal protections, dignity, and full participation in our society," the White House budget office said in a statement. "No person should face discrimination because of who they are or whom they love, and every married couple in the United States deserves the security of knowing that their marriage will be defended and respected."

Interracial marriage has become increasingly common in the United States: today, 17% of new marriages in the US are interracial, and “mixed race” was the fastest growing demographic category according to the 2020 census. Despite this increased acceptance, however, the recent increase of racism and hate crimes has created a challenging environment for many of those families.

Chao drew Trump's ire when she disapproved of the attempted coup on Jan. 6 and resigned her post five days later, the first administration official to do so in protest.

“I think the events at the capitol, however they occurred, were shocking. And it was something that, as I mentioned in my statement, that I could not put aside,” Chao said.

“And at a particular point, the events were such, that it was impossible for me to continue given my personal values and my philosophy,” she continued.

Chao added that “I came as an immigrant to this country. I believe in this country. I believe in the peaceful transfer of power. I believe in democracy. And so … it was a decision that I made on my own.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.