Donald Trump’s racist obsession

Soon after the pandemic began in 2020, Donald Trump delighted in repeatedly referring to COVID-19 as the “China virus” and “Wuhan virus,” an act that has encouraged discrimination and harassment against Asian-Americans. Trump then took things an ugly step further, making a racist joke by calling it “kung flu” to thunderous applause at his rallies.

Trump has also enjoyed belittling his former Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao, with a racist nickname, “Coco Chow,” ever since she called it quits after the Trump-inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Noting how many times Trump has posted about “Coco Chow” on Truth Social in January 2023 alone, conservative lawyer George Conway recently declared Trump’s behavior to be a “racist obsession.”

While Trump promoted hatred of constituents whom he took an oath to protect, President Joe Biden is building upon past initiatives aimed at lifting people up. This week, the Biden administration released a new strategy designed to “advance equity, justice, and opportunity” for Asian-American as well as Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities.

Biden’s steps to thwart the growing number of bias incidents and discrimination against AA and NHPI communities began the day he took office. Then, in May 2021, Biden issued an executive order recognizing these communities as “irrefutable sources of our Nation’s strength.” Declaring new action, Biden noted that “[t]ragic acts of anti-Asian violence have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic” and that the federal government “must provide the moral leadership, policies, and programs” to end it.

The Biden administration’s newly released strategy includes action plans by 32 federal agencies that expand past efforts even further. The plans range from collecting better data on AA and NHPI communities, growing language access across federal programs, increasing access to federal contracts, grants, and opportunities, making the federal workforce more diverse, and improving outreach and engagement efforts.

Such a comprehensive, dedicated, and persistent effort to tackle hatred in whatever form it may appear is what we have come to expect from President Biden. The federal government can be a powerful player in encouraging dignity toward all Americans, and it’s up to our leaders to set the right tone. If America is a proud democracy, it deserves a President who looks out for everyone. Yelling Kung flu and Coco Chow all the time like an insolent child does not qualify as leadership.

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