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Former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign claimed on Wednesday that he is the community’s biggest advocate. The bold statement came after the release of a poll on Tuesday that showed Asian Americans overwhelmingly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump by 38 points, a margin significantly greater than President Joe Biden’s 15-point lead in spring.

• What his team is saying: Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, told the Press Trust of India that “there has been no bigger advocate for the AAPI community than President Trump,” noting that he “created an environment where diversity, equal opportunity and prosperity were afforded to everybody.” Cheung claimed that anyone who says otherwise about Trump is “disgustingly using the AAPI community to play political games for their own benefit.” He also expressed confidence in their campaign, saying it harnesses the successes of Asian Americans during Trump’s first term to propel him to another stint at the White House.

• What the community remembers: Despite Trump’s claims of advocacy, the negative impact of his anti-Asian rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic remains felt to this day. Specifically, his use of terms like “kung flu” and “Chinese virus” have been widely criticized for contributing to a surge in anti-Asian incidents, many of which were violent. Trump has also been criticized for targeting Asian American figures like Elaine Chao with racially charged remarks. “He doesn’t seem to understand that, which says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans,” Chao told Politico last year. His continued mockery of public figures’ ethnic backgrounds, such as his attacks on Nikki Haley’s birth name, has drawn parallels to his earlier “birther” attacks on Barack Obama, further demonstrating how his words continue to harmfully resonate within the community.

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