Chinese American Members of Congress Condemn MAGA Podcast Advocating for Chinese American Incarceration

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Grace Meng (NY-06), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Ted Lieu (CA-36), and CAPAC Chair Emerita Judy Chu (CA-28) issued the following statement in response to a right-wing political podcast advocating for the incarceration of Chinese Americans during a hypothetical war with China:

“As Chinese American Members of Congress, we are appalled by recent comments made on a pro-Trump podcast while discussing a hypothetical war with China. The panel made deeply disturbing statements, arguing that ‘it seems like we should’ send Chinese Americans to incarceration camps and that it is difficult to ‘tell where their allegiances are.’

“These comments invoke centuries-old racist tropes that cast Chinese Americans as perpetual foreigners and question their loyalty to the United States. Such rhetoric fuels discrimination and violence against Chinese Americans and those perceived to be Chinese, and contributes to a climate in which one in five Americans are currently concerned about Chinese Americans posing a threat to U.S. society.

“To call for a return to one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history—the incarceration of more than 120,000 American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II—is dangerous and unacceptable. This kind of rhetoric has no place in our country and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”