So here’s the thing. I have provided volunteer assistance for Jay Chen’s campaign since the spring of 2021, as it was one of the most developed Democratic challenger campaigns last year. The district that Jay Chen is running in has a significant number of Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese groups that we are trying to win over, as much of Michelle Steel’s victory in 2020 came from successfully courting these Asian voters. All of these groups have their own cultures that any candidate must respect when talking to them.

Despite all of our efforts to keep Jay Chen’s campaign events local and extremely difficult for Republican trackers to find, a Republican operative managed to get footage at an April 7 meet and greet. In this video, Jay Chen mocks Michelle Steel’s speaking, saying “She just had another town hall the other day, and it’s tough. Like we’ve transcribed it, you kind of need an interpreter to figure out what exactly she’s saying.” This type of remark is not okay. At all. Mocking somebody’s accent is the number one way to get someone to hate you. I speak as an Asian who got bullied a lot in my childhood for my speaking.

Jay Chen needs to respond to this, fast, as we’ve already received complaints from Asian voters in the district about this, and it’s already gone full blast on Fox News. If not, he will be branded as hypocritical, as much of our message is highlights our inclusiveness towards people of all races and all backgrounds. As it stands, I predict that Michelle Steel will get a flood of donations from all kinds of right wing people because of this.

I take no pleasure on saying this, especially not for someone who I have heavily supported for over a year now.