Yan Xiong, an anti-communist Chinese American Army veteran, said he wants to defeat former mayor de Blasio in the Congressional race.
On Sunday, Xiong, 57, said to The New York Post that it would be “horrible if Bill de Blasio was elected to Congress.”
He believes de Blasio ignored the Asian American community and Chinatown during his term as mayor.
“The Chinese community will not be ignored if I’m elected to Congress,” Xiong said to The New York Post.
Last week, de Blasio announced his campaign for the 10th District House Seat. Both de Blasio and Xiong are running in the Democratic primary.
“Bill de Blasio doesn’t care about our Asian communities. He doesn’t care about our safety, and openly discriminated against our high-performing students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds,” Xiong said in a campaign flier.
According to The New York Times, de Blasio left the mayoral office with low approval ratings after two terms in 2021.
“This is a unicorn: a brand-new congressional seat that no one has ever seen before that has no incumbent,” Mr. de Blasio said to the Times, adding that he thought its voters might want “someone with some history and stature” at a moment of national tumult.
However, Xiong said to the Post that the former mayor does not stand a chance due to nearly 20% of the 10th Congressional District population being Asian American.
Before coming to America, Xiong was a freedom fighter in China and would lead pro-Democracy protests in the country.
He fled China to come to America as a political refugee and served as a chaplain in Iraq once he joined the Army.
U.S. prosecutors accused China of trying to harass and undermine Xiong, according to Long Island Press.
“That’s horrible, that surprises me, I get mad,” he said to the Post. “I am American citizen, and US Army veteran for 27 years and I am Christian pastor. I have nothing to do with them.”
Xiong and de Blasio will face off in the Democratic primary on Aug. 23.
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You guys don’t even know who he is. He is a traitor of democracy and only care about money and power. He denounced the pro-democracy movement and allied himself with the Chinese communist party. He knows nothing about politics nor policies. A man who should never be close to any place of power.