by Chloe Loo
In key swing states that have defined the last few moments of the U.S. presidential election deadlock, “uncles and aunties” have awakened from their slumber to break their silent track record that was once characterized by political apathy and indecisiveness this November in support of Donald Trump.
Throughout the United States, Asian-Americans have been poised as a critical segment of the electorate propped up against a backdrop of racial tensions and amplified polarization. The Pew Research Centre has listed the Asian-American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) electorate as the largest-growing racial and ethnic electorate group amongst the country’s voters. In Pennsylvania, where President-elect Joe Biden commenced and rounded off his campaign, the AAPI makes up 4% of the state’s electorate, a significantly larger population than the margin of 0.7% in which Biden had been leading.
Nonetheless, Trump’s puny invention, the “Kung-flu”, amongst a winding list of discriminatory vocabulary that spurred racist and xenophobic sentiments, did little to sway first-generation and immigrant Chinese-Americans. Vietnamese-Americans were not spared from accusatory remarks either when California Governor Gavin Newsom credited the first community spread of COVID-19 to a nail salon, without evidence, in the state where it remains widely known that an overwhelming majority of nail salons (numerically, 80%) are owned and operated by Vietnamese-Americans. And yet, many first-generation Asian-Americans have sought political refuge in Trump’s chaotic four-year term which included a futile attempt at impeachment as an intermission.
As the continent houses 48 countries, “Asian-American” has been an umbrella term widely used to describe Americans of all heritage, religions, and colors. Needless to say, there is no one consolidated Asian-American vote across generations and one’s country of origin. While Indian-Americans are historically left-leaning, a few in the widespread community might appreciate Trump’s affectionate displays of friendliness towards Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For newly naturalized Chinese-Americans and first-generation Vietnamese-Americans who were once withdrawn from presidential voting for a different reason than groups of young progressives disheartened by the electoral concept of wasted votes, conservative support for Trump divides the communities.
Strongly uniting Chinese-American and Vietnamese-American Baby Boomers are the deep reverberations of the Cold War and the harsh communist regimes they have once endured. The fear of a Communist takeover lingers heavily over them, paralleling the Red Scare in the previous century. In Florida, Trump’s victory had thrived on the same foundations but targeted a slightly different demographic. Although his campaign had tactfully positioned him as a bipartisan centrist, those who escaped Fidel Castro’s regime were adamant in steering clear of Biden thanks to the Republican branding of Biden as a “socialist”, a term which conjures the nightmarish way of life Cuban- and Venezuelan-Americans were subjected to. Such Republican attacks couldn’t be farther than the truth; many progressives and socialist democrats reject Biden and remain unwilling to substitute him for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders after Sanders had ranked second in the primaries.
Ironically, older Chinese-Americans spread their political belief through WeChat—the very messaging app that Trump has threatened to ban. WeChat has consolidated its unique base of first-generation Chinese-Americans, building an echo chamber of post-truth Trump rhetoric. Vengeful in demanding post-divorce revenge, worsening US-Sino relations under the incumbent president’s rule only serve to highlight their resolute callousness in finalizing their divorce with the CCP as they pledge their allegiance to their newfound liberties.
Buying into Trump’s lofty promises, many freshly immigrated Asian-Americans view him as the one who will fly in with a red and blue cape embellished with white stars to overpower Xi Jinping. Trump’s vicious disregard for diplomacy and bossy unilateralism appeals to them: Who else dares to stand up to another emergent superpower in a brazen albeit contentious attitude other than Trump? Meanwhile, to the older Vietnamese-American electorate, Trump’s America functions as a strong antidote to the post-Cold War communist bloc.
Just as younger Latino voters have voted more progressively, younger Asian-Americans have divergent political views. Mostly American-born, the new generation of Asian-Americans brushed themselves off of their parents’ new-found political affiliation and their deep-rooted (and, arguably, justifiable) hatred of socialism. Swathes of younger Asian-Americans have taken AAPI voter outreach into their own hands, using their native language to penetrate the misinformation in WeChat and social media networks.
Asian Americans Against Trump was a project founded to consolidate Asian-American support from older generations, specifically targeting Chinese, Korean, and Hmong communities. Just as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had criticized the subpar effort to secure Latino votes in Florida, Asian-Americans against Trump took it upon themselves after witnessing the lack of democratic outreach in native Asian languages.
Their outreach materials exist in simplified and traditional Chinese, Korean, Hmong, and English. Four days after the election, they returned to Instagram celebrating their victory. Their wish of flipping the Senate, however, remains unaccomplished.
While politics remains an incontrovertible divisive dinner table topic, TikTok user @Cookieduong designed a detailed presentation challenging her father’s former support for Trump. Entirely in Vietnamese, the presentation was laden with graphs, statistics, and quotations showcasing Trump’s strange reverence for highly-criticized leaders like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Rodrigo Duterte. Like Cookie, watching Vietnamese parents belting their support for the GOP in a literal American fashion (with huge star-spangled banners imprinted over their Ao Dai) registered nothing less than queer to me.
President-elect Biden only has the next four years to undo the work of the haughty incumbent president. Risks of failing to do so include thrusting the country into the devious hands of another right-wing populist next term, seemingly a new status quo in Europe. Biden is likely to approach China with a more cautious stance with greater formality, possibly upsetting Taiwanese-Americans, unlike Trump who has done away with “political-correctness” the last four years.
About the Author
Apart from her interest in History and Politics, Chloe contributes to the blog “Bread But Roti”, an initiative backed up by local youth-led podcast team, TheSambalPod, which focuses on navigating student life as Malaysians.