A number of Democrats have flocked to California Rep. Judy Chu’s defense after her “loyalty” to the United States was called into question by Texas Rep. Lance Gooden.
“Gooden’s slanderous accusation of disloyalty against Rep. Chu is dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement lambasting Gooden on Thursday. “Look in the mirror, Lance. You have zero credibility.”
Jeffries came to Chu’s defense after Gooden’s remarks on Fox News on Wednesday: “I think that Judy Chu needs to be called out.” The Texas Republican said, “I question her either loyalty or competence. If she doesn’t realize what’s going on, then she’s totally out of touch with one of her core constituencies.”
The first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, Chu blasted Gooden on MSNBC on Thursday, saying: “Rep. Gooden’s comments on Fox News questioning my loyalty to the USA is absolutely outrageous.” She added, “It is based on false information spread by an extreme, right-wing website. Furthermore, it is racist. I very much doubt that he would be spreading these lies were I not of Chinese American descent.”
“It perpetuates the stereotype that Asian Americans are foreigners in their own land, no matter how many generations they’ve been in this country—or are like me and were born and raised in this country,” Chu said.
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Gooden’s comments were made after a swirl of unsubstantiated information surfaced regarding Chu’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party, as reported in the conservative outlet The Daily Caller. After the GOP questioned President Joe Biden’s appointee to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council, Dominic Ng, six Republican lawmakers (including Gooden) wrote a letter to the FBI, claiming that Biden “appointed an individual with existing Chinese Communist Party ties.” In response to the unsubstantiated allegations, leaders of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) wrote a statement defending Ng, arguing that he “has undergone an extensive vetting process and sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution and serve the American public.” Chu is the chair of CAPAC, prompting Gooden’s attack.
Gooden responded to comments made by both Chu and Jeffries in an email: “Rather than following facts that indicate the presence of Chinese espionage, Chu and Jeffries are playing the race card in a sick display of disloyalty to our nation.”
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