Elaine Chao responds to Trump's racist attacks on her Asian American heritage - The Washington Post

“Does Coco Chow person thing to bash with Joe Biden’s Classified Documents being sent and stored successful Chinatown?” Trump posted connected Truth Social connected Monday. “Her husband, the Old Broken Crow, is VERY adjacent to Biden, the Democrats, and, of course, China.”

In a statement, Chao said, “When I was young, immoderate radical deliberately misspelled oregon mispronounced my name. Asian Americans person worked hard to alteration that acquisition for the adjacent generation. He doesn’t look to recognize that, which says a full batch much astir him than it volition ever accidental astir Asian Americans.”

Politico was the archetypal to study Chao’s statement.

Wednesday’s connection is the latest rupture betwixt Trump, who has announced his 3rd bid for the presidency successful November, and a cardinal insider successful the Republican Party.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung, who did not instantly respond to The Washington Post’s petition for comment, told Politico: “People should halt feigning outrage and engaging successful controversies that beryllium lone successful their heads.”

Chao served arsenic proscription caput for each 4 years of Trump’s presidency earlier announcing her resignation pursuing the Jan. 6, 2021, onslaught connected the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

Chao’s father, James S.C. Chao, founded a palmy planetary shipping company. She immigrated to the United States from Taiwan astatine property 8 without knowing however to talk English. She went connected to postgraduate from Harvard Business School earlier moving arsenic a proscription banker. She besides did stints arsenic a White House fellow, astatine the Peace Corps, firm boards and deliberation tanks.

In 2001, Chao became the first Asian American woman to beryllium named to a Cabinet post, serving arsenic labour caput nether George W. Bush for 8 years.

McConnell did not initially enactment Trump’s 2016 candidacy but aligned himself with the party’s standard-bearer erstwhile helium secured the nomination. The 2 men developed a moving narration that produced authorities connected taxation cuts and the confirmations of a bevy of judicial appointments, but the confederation was severed aft the attack connected the Capitol and a drawstring of predetermination losses that the legislator essentially blamed connected Trump.

Trump posted a racist mentation of Chao’s past sanction successful a societal media station successful October, aft McConnell helped walk authorities to avert a authorities shutdown. In that post, Trump besides said McConnell “has a DEATH WISH!”

Before that, Trump called Chao “crazy” and said McConnell helped her “family get affluent connected China!”

Chao has mostly avoided responding to Trump and urged journalists not to punctuation his inflammatory rhetoric. The “media continuously repeats his racist taunt,” Chao told CNN successful December. “And so, he’s trying to get a emergence retired of us. He says each sorts of outrageous things, and I don’t marque a constituent of answering immoderate 1 of them.”

McConnell besides issued a uncommon and pointed disapproval of Trump that month, telling NBC News that immoderate of the Republicans’ midterm losses were a effect of the candidates Trump had promoted. McConnell added, “I deliberation the erstwhile president’s governmental clout has diminished.”

But Chao hasn’t been the sole absorption of Trump’s seemingly racist remarks astir Asian Americans.

As the coronavirus pandemic amped up crossed the United States and the satellite successful March 2020, Trump publically referred to it arsenic the “Chinese virus.” Trump’s usage of the operation “Chinese virus” connected societal media was linked to a spike successful anti-Asian hashtags, according to a study co-written by an epidemiology prof successful California.

At a run rally successful June 2020, helium added different racist nickname to the mix, this clip calling covid “Kung flu.”

“The information that helium got the assemblage truthful riled up was conscionable chilling,” Chris Lu, a Chinese American who served arsenic Cabinet caput successful the Obama White House, said that summer. “In that truly primal tendency to get a emergence retired of the assemblage and get that affirmation helium wants, helium went to this spot that has specified atrocious consequences for Asian Americans broadly and for Asian American kids successful particular. It’s a gag to him but not to us.”

In November, Trump attacked Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), penning connected societal media that the past sanction of the Republican, who is talked astir arsenic a imaginable Trump challenger for the Republican statesmanlike information successful 2024, “Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?”

Former Maryland politician Larry Hogan (R) said Trump’s remark — which was false, Youngkin is not Asian — was “racist” and “Asian hate.”

Chao’s remarks Wednesday basal successful stark opposition to her tenure successful the Trump administration, successful which she supported the president adjacent during immoderate of his astir tumultuous moments. In August 2017, she was astatine the president’s side successful the lobby of Trump Tower, visiting New York ostensibly to sermon infrastructure. Trump said she was doing a “fabulous job.”

Yet those remarks became infamous erstwhile Trump veered disconnected taxable to sermon far-right unit that had engulfed Charlottesville days before, saying that a radical of white-supremacist demonstrators included “very good people” and that the blasted for the unit laic with “both sides.”

Liz Goodwin contributed to this report.