When Amanda Berg heard that President Donald Trump mocked the accents of the leaders of South Korea and Japan at a recent fundraiser, it brought back painful memories from her childhood.
Berg, a Korean American who grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, recalled kids doing the "stereotypical pulling at the eyes and the mocking accent." It made her feel like she was a foreigner in her own community.
Berg, a registered Democrat, is among a growing and crucial bloc of Asian American voters leaning further to the left in the age of Trump, and his stunt angered her and many others.
"It empowers people who would be predisposed to doing that kind of thing anyway," said Berg, a high school English teacher in Denver. "And it makes it acceptable to be openly, increasingly discriminating."
Trump has used racist rhetoric to fire up his conservative base ahead of the 2020 election — most notably against four Democratic congresswomen of color. Telling them to "go back" to their home countries triggered widespread outcry last month, but his mocking of Asian accents garnered a more tepid reaction. Some worry the frequency of Trump's racially offensive remarks makes them easier to shrug off, a concern that could weigh on an Asian American voting group that's only growing in power.
The Asian American voting-age population has more than doubled in the past two decades, leaping from 4.3 million in 1998 to 11.1 million in 2018 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A majority of those new voters lean Democratic.
By 2016, some Asian ethnic groups that had leaned Republican shifted into the Democratic camp, said Natalie Masuoka, an associate professor of political science and Asian American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. A Pew Research Center survey said 53% of Asian American registered voters in 1998 identified with the Democratic Party. That figure rose to 65% in 2017.
"They are adding more and more new voters to the electorate," Masuoka said. "Alongside Latino immigrants, they're important for candidates to mobilize."
Asian American voters also could become a key factor in swing states. In Nevada, Asians make up 5% of registered voters and 9% of the eligible voting population. They comprise 5% of registered voters in Virginia and are 6% of the eligible voting population.
The GOP, meanwhile, remains appealing to Asian Americans who are strongly anti-communist, as many are in Vietnamese communities. Some data also suggests that a large proportion of Filipinos and wealthy, higher-educated Chinese Americans are more likely to go Republican, Masuoka said.
But it may be hard for some to look past Trump's words.
"He's willing to use Asian stereotypes, Asian accents in his public speeches," Masuoka said. "In that way ... the way Americans are talking about race is now shifting possibly back to what historically was effective before the civil rights revolution" — explicit and sometimes offensive talk about race.
The New York Post reported that Trump imitated South Korea President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, both close U.S. allies, at a fundraiser in the Hamptons this month. Trump used a fake accent to boast about Moon relenting in negotiations over the costs of U.S. military aid to South Korea and when rehashing talks with Abe had about trade tariffs.
In the past, such comments have led to outrage.
In 1995, then-New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato used a faux Japanese accent when discussing O.J. Simpson trial Judge Lance Ito, who is Japanese American, in a radio interview. The Republican senator's apology was criticized at the time by the Asian American Defense and Education Legal Fund.
"It was a time where even though we were very offended by the remarks, we thought it might make a difference to ask for an apology. But with President Trump, one doesn't expect that," said Margaret Fung, the group's executive director. "That's part of the way he speaks, the way he acts which is offensive. Unfortunately, it doesn't get the kind of attention that maybe it should."
Officials for Trump's re-election campaign defended his record with Asian Americans.
"The Asian American community has never been stronger than under President Trump's leadership," campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. "Millions of Asian Americans have secured access to the strongest economy in modern history, with the Asian American unemployment rate hitting a record low under the leadership of President Trump."
A representative for the White House did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
Trump supporters like Farhana Shah, of the Arizona GOP Asian American Coalition, however, say his personality is irrelevant. She praised Trump for creating jobs, passing a tax cut and keeping the country safe. Shah, who emigrated from Bangladesh in 2006 and is self-conscious at times about her own accent, also disagrees that Trump's accent mimicking was racist or done out of cruelty.
"He has a humorous attitude. He has a funny way of expressing things," Shah said. "Did he harm any political negotiations? Did the leaders (themselves) react to that? If not, then it didn't do any big harm. So why should I get offended?"
Shah has gotten into debates with those who question her support for Trump.
"President Trump might not speak very posh, but he is trying to resolve these problems," Shah said.
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TRUMP TRIAL OPENING-AP EXPLAINS — Opening statements in Donald Trump’s hush money trial set the stage for weeks of testimony about the former president’s personal life and places his legal troubles at the center of his closely contested campaign against President Joe Biden. An AP reporter debrief. Newsroom Ready and Consumer Ready edits.
BIDEN-EARTH DAY — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving households in low- and middle-income communities — while blasting Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. Newsroom Ready and Consumer Ready edits.
President Joe Biden campaigns in Tampa, Florida. Events at 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
++ Candidate schedules are subject to change. Coverage of some events is on merits. ++
7 a.m. — Live NY Trump Pool coverage outside of Trump Tower in New York is planned.
8:30 a.m. — Live NY Trump Pool or Live AP coverage outside of the courthouse in New York is planned.
9 a.m. — Live pool coverage from the courthouse hallway in New York is planned.
4:15 p.m. — Live US Network Pool of President Joe Biden’s campaign event in Tampa, Florida.
TRUMP-HUSH-MONEY-MEDIA-BLOGS — With cameras not allowed at former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York, live news blogs are coming into their own as an important news tool. SENT: 710 words, photos.
TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — A longtime tabloid publisher is expected to tell jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign as testimony resumes in the historic hush money trial of the former president. David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, will be back on the stand Tuesday. SENT: 1,160 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 1,200 words after trial resumes at 9:30 a.m.
ELECTION 2024-TRUMP-ELECTION INTERFERENCE — Donald Trump faces serious charges in two separate cases over whether he attempted to subvert the Constitution by overturning the results of a fair election. Yet it’s a New York case centered on payments to silence an adult film star that might provide the only legal reckoning this year. Some legal experts are dubious about attempting to tie a record-keeping case to manipulating an election. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-TRUMP-CAPITOL RIOT-THINGS TO KNOW — The core issue being debated before the Supreme Court on Thursday boils down to this: Whether a former president is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office — and, if so, what is the extent of the immunity? SENT: 1,070 words, photo.
ELECTION 2024-PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania primaries on Tuesday will cement the lineup for a high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to win their presidential nominations easily. SENT: 890 words, photos. Polls close at 8 p.m.
ELECTION 2024-BIDEN-ABORTION — President Joe Biden is heading to Tampa, Florida, to decry the state’s looming six-week abortion ban as his campaign continued to seize on reproductive rights as a key campaign issue. SENT: 890 words, photos, video.
TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. SENT: 1,270 words, photos, video. With TRUMP-HUSH MONEY-TAKEAWAYS — Opening statements provide a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges.
BIDEN-EARTH DAY — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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Former president Donald Trump, center, awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. Opening statements in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial are set to begin. Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he thought might hurt his presidential campaign in 2016. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
