Offenders and Defenders: This Month in Anti-Asian Scapegoating - July 2024

Over the past few weeks, hate-fueled political scapegoating has continued to escalate amid a contentious election cycle. We witnessed an anti-immigrant tirade from Donald Trump during the first presidential debate, a false report by the New York Post that misidentified Trump’s shooter as “a Chinese man,” and bigoted attacks against Indian women at the recent Republican National Convention.?

Keep reading to see the worst offenders of anti-Asian scapegoating?and the strongest defenders against it.

Offenders: Far-Right influencers

Offense #1: Conservative commentator Nick Fuentes and other far-right voices attacked Usha Vance – the wife of Donald Trump’s VP running mate, Senator J.D. Vance – with racist vitriol as she appeared at the Republican National Convention. Fuentes also cast suspicion on the Senator simply for having kids with Indian names, which is textbook anti-Asian scapegoating. He said:

"J.D. Vance also has an Indian wife and a kid named Vivek. All his kids have Indian names – so it’s like, what exactly are we getting here? And that’s not a dig at him just because I’m a racist or something. But who is this guy really?" - Nick Fuentes

Offense #2: Far-right influencer Lauren Witzke was one of many online who posted bigoted comments about Harmeet Dhillon, an Indian and Sikh American woman who spoke at the RNC. They called her “evil,” “demonic,” and called for her deportation.

Offense #3: On the RNC stage, former ICE head Thomas Homan pushed the conspiratorial lie that immigration leads to more crime. In reality, data shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens. He also used fear-mongering rhetoric to promote inhumane mass deportation policies that would separate families.

Impact: These offenses are alarming signs of the rise of white supremacist ideologies. Experts who study white nationalism say that communities most frequently scapegoated “are also the communities most targeted during times of fear and uncertainty.”

When people with large platforms spew bigotry and conspiracy theories, they fuel real-world acts of hate and violence. The ongoing demonization and dehumanization of immigrants and people of color is endangering entire communities and eroding our shared American values of equal rights and dignity for all.

Offender: New York Post

Offense: On Saturday, July 13, the New York Post falsely reported that the person responsible for former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination was a Chinese man – hours before authorities confirmed the identity of the shooter, who was a white man.?

Impact: Their reckless misreporting and failure to immediately disclose it sparked a flood of misinformation, racism, and xenophobic conspiracy theories online. While the Post corrected the article – the damage had already been done. In our inflamed political climate, all it takes is one charged statement or false claim to incite hate against entire communities of people.

After mounting pressure from the Asian American community – including from Stop AAPI Hate – the Post issued a retraction and apology. But this shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Reckless reporting like this is rampant, and it has dangerous real-life consequences.?

Defender: Representative Suzanne Bonamici

Defense: The PROTECT Kids Act is a U.S. House Resolution that, if passed, would allow racial profiling of Chinese people and undermine cultural exchange and language study programs in public schools. At a recent House Committee, Rep. Bonamici (Oregon) highlighted the dangers of this federal bill. She said:

"Anti-Asian hate has no place in our…schools and…in our country. We must fight against unwarranted panic and suspicion among school personnel, parents and communities that result in increased discrimination against students and educators of Asian descent." - Representative Suzanne Bonamici

Impact: This proposed policy is the latest in a long list of legislation that fuels conspiracy theories about Chinese influence in public schools and the racial profiling of people of Asian descent. (Another present-day example: the anti-immigrant land ownership bans in Georgia and Florida).?

Legislation like this stokes discrimination against Chinese American students and educators, while inflaming anti-Asian racism and xenophobia more broadly. We applaud Rep. Bonamici for speaking out against a resolution that unfairly casts suspicion on our communities.?

Offender: Former President Donald Trump

Offense: During the first presidential debate of this election season, Trump repeatedly went on anti-immigrant tirades , spotlighting the baseless conspiracy theory that immigrants are “taking Black jobs and…Hispanic jobs.”

Impact: Xenophobic, racist rhetoric paves the way for dehumanizing immigration policies (like family separation or mass deportation) that endanger the lives of immigrants and communities of color, including Asian people and the broader Asian American community.

Setting aside the fact that none of what he said is true, Trump’s anti-immigrant fearmongering threatens to divide BIPOC communities by pitting Black Americans and Latino/e Americans against immigrants and refugees.

Defender: Representative Gene Wu

Defense: At the Texas Democratic Convention, Rep. Gene Wu gave a powerful speech equating Japanese incarceration during World War II to the present day rise of anti-Asian land ownership bans:

“Back then, our government rounded up 120,000 Japanese Americans, more than 66% of whom were American-born citizens, and they forcibly put them into concentration camps at the end of a rifle. I’m here today because it never ends at just land. It only ends when men point guns at families and demand that they get into the train car.” - Representative Gene Wu

Impact: Two years ago, Wu was a part of the state-wide coalition that successfully defeated legislation that would have stripped the right to home ownership from thousands of Asian families.

As similar legislation is being considered in dozens of other states, Rep. Wu’s ongoing efforts to reject policies that scapegoat Asian communities reminds us that we do in fact have the power to keep history from repeating itself.?

You can help hold elected officials accountable for attempting to normalize racist and harmful rhetoric and policies. If you see or hear anti-Asian political rhetoric from your elected leaders — or news reports and online commentary that fuel anti-Asian hate — please take a few minutes to report it to our reporting center.