Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump returned to his anti-Asian China rhetoric this week when announcing his campaign for the 2024 GOP nomination.
“We call it the China virus,” Trump declared in making his 2024 run official Tuesday, reported CNN.
According to the Hill, Trump has effectively weaponized China and made it a central core of both his campaigns and past presidency.
Trump accused China of “playing a very active role in the 2020 election,” a charge as baseless as his extreme claim that blamed fraud for stealing the 2020 election from him.
He also connected the country to the nation’s energy supply challenges saying the Asian nation “is watching us die and they’re laughing as it happens.”
The former president has refused to back down despite concerns that it lead directly to the rise in anti-Asian hate seen since the start of the pandemic.
“Donald Trump’s return as a presidential candidate is chilling,” said Stop AAPI Hate in a statement sent to AsAmNews. “Trump’s systematic use of anti-AAPI racist rhetoric drove such an increase in hate incidents that we are still dealing with the aftermath today. Right now, many AAPIs are justifiably afraid for our communities, our loved ones and ourselves.”
The political group The AAPI Victory Fund vowed to derail Trump’s candidacy just as AAPI voters have done before.
“This can only positively impact the unification of the progressive movement,” said Brad Jenkins, CEO of the AAPI Victory Fund. “Our community has aided in defeating him, his abhorrent behavior, and his MAGA ilk before, and if called upon, we will do it again.”
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