TrumpsRacism alienates a growing electoral bloc

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As their only declared presidential candidate holds his first public event of 2023, Republicans need to ask themselves one question: If you’re too afraid to take on Donald Trump for ideological or moral reasons, how about doing it at gross political ends?

Former Transport Secretary Elaine Chao this week made one of the strongest denunciations to date of the racism of her former bosses in particular, a series of blatantly racist comments directed at her. Chao had tried to ignore Trump and urged the media to do the same. But for some reason, Chao decided she couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

Not only is she right, but other Republicans should follow her example. It’s not often that the right thing to do is also the politically expedient thing to do, but in this case, given the growing influence of Asian Americans in American politics, it is.

Trump’s cruel rhetoric here is different from his Kung flu references during the early weeks of the pandemic in 2020. These could perhaps be excused as juvenile (and offensive) attempts at humor at a time when many many Americans were looking for relief from their anxiety. But calling a Taiwanese-American woman Coco Chow a mockery of the name is, as Chao notes, painfully common for many Asian Americans to cross a line rarely seen in politics (at least if you don’t count Trump).

It’s also politically stupid. There is at least anecdotal evidence in the last election that Asian Americans are becoming more conservative when it comes to crime, education, and perhaps the economy. In New York State, Asian American voters not only shifted significantly to the right in the 2022 gubernatorial elections, they also helped Republicans win four House seats. the United States. And an Asian American Republican ousted a 36-year-old Democrat from the New York City Council.

In California, defying the blue wave of 2018, two Korean-American Republican women, Michelle Steel and Young Kim, flipped Democratic seats in Orange County, a former GOP stronghold that has gone blue in recent years. Steel and Kim retained their seats in 2020 and 2022 and are now members of the Republican majority in the United States House.

Meanwhile, Trump’s animosity is almost pathological. And Republicans can’t excuse his behavior as mere belligerent pettiness stemming from Chaos’ resignation after Jan. 6 or the many times Trump was criticized by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Husband of Chaos. Otherwise, how to explain Trump’s strange mockery of the name of Virginia Governor Glen Youngkins: it sounds Chinese, doesn’t it? Could the insult have something to do with Youngkins’ status as a possible candidate for 2024?

On a positive note, it was a rare event when Trump was publicly called out by an elected Republican: Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, whose wife and children are Korean-Americans, called Trump’s racist comment.

If Trump continues to make racist comments about an Asian American woman who served more capably in four Republican administrations (including his own) when other Republicans don’t say a word of repudiation, political ads from Democrats 2024 practically write themselves. Especially if Trump is the nominee.

There are at least two ways Republicans can avoid sabotaging their budding relationship with the nation’s fastest growing minority group. They can call out Donald Trump when he launches into one of his racist rants, as he inevitably will. And they can nominate a presidential candidate who doesn’t have a racist background.

More from Bloomberg Opinion:

Trump takes his insults to a new low: Timothy L. OBrien

Insulting fallen soldier is a bad look for Trump: Cass Sunstein

In praise of Mitch McConnells Straight Talk About Jan. 6: The Editors

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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board or of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Robert A. George is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and editorial board member covering government and public policy. Previously, he served on the editorial boards of the New York Daily News and the New York Post.

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