A far right Republican is being called out for suggesting the first Chinese American lawmaker in the House of Representatives is disloyal to the United States.
Last week, Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) suggested an individual named Dominic Ng, who was appointed as the U.S. member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council last year, harbored anti-U.S. viewpoints and had “existing Chinese Communist Party ties.”
Representative Gooden and other Republicans made those claims based on a report from The Daily Caller, a conservative website that has been involved in a number of controversies relating to its distorting of facts, as well as its connections to white supremacists. The publication, for example, allowed a noted white nationalist to write some of its news coverage of the fascist-led rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
A number of lawmakers in Congress disputed that report, and Gooden’s claims, with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus writing a press release condemning his attacks against Ng.
As with every presidential appointee, Dominic Ng, who is Chinese American, has undergone an extensive vetting process and sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution and serve the American public. No Chinese Americans — indeed no Americans — should face suspicions of disloyalty or treason based on their ethnicity, nation of origin, or that of their family members.
That prompted Representative Gooden, during a Fox News interview on Wednesday night, to attack that cacaus’s leader, Rep. Judy Chu (D-California).
“I question her either loyalty or competence,” Gooden said, expressing a sentiment that has been a racist trope against Asian Americans for several generations.
Gooden also accused Representative Chu of “standing up for China’s Communist Party,” without providing evidence of her connection to that entity.
“I’m really disappointed and shocked that someone like Judy Chu would have a security clearance and [be] entitled to confidential intelligence briefings until this is figured out,” he added.
Chu responded on Thursday to Gooden’s clearly racist and misinformed commentary.
“Rep. Gooden’s comments on Fox News questioning my loyalty to the USA is absolutely outrageous,” Chu said in a statement. “It is based on false information spread by an extreme, right-wing website. Furthermore, it is racist. I very much doubt that he would be spreading these lies were I not of Chinese American descent.”
Others came to Chu’s defense as well, blasting Gooden for his bigoted words.
“Attacking the loyalty of Asian Americans like @RepJudyChu is a racist trope that has harmed Asian Americans throughout US history. Stop harming Americans of Asian descent,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) said on Twitter, directing his remarks toward Gooden.
“My friend @RepJudyChu is an American patriot and one of our nation’s finest public servants,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York) said. “At a time when anti-AAPI violence is at record highs, @Lancegooden’s racist comments are not only disgusting and unacceptable, they are also dangerous.”
The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus also again responded to Gooden, writing on Thursday that the Republican lawmaker’s comments were rooted in historical falsehoods.
“After centuries of being targeted for not being ‘American enough’ and viewed with suspicion based on looking ‘foreign,’ this type of insinuation and fear mongering only further endangers our communities,” the group said in a statement. “We hope Republican House leadership will join us in condemning these kinds of attacks on Chinese Americans, elected or otherwise.”
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