Before you read:
Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has doubled down on ignoring former President Donald Trump’s racist moniker for her, this time discouraging the media from repeating it.
Trump made headlines in October after using the offensive nickname to refer to Chao in a Truth Social rant against her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). In a posting spree on Wednesday, the former president used the moniker once again while calling her McConnell’s “China-loving wife.”
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In a new interview with CNN, Chao, who is of Taiwanese descent, said it would be “very helpful if the media does not repeat that racist tweet.”
“If it were the N-word, or any other word, the media would not repeat it,” Chao said. “But the media continuously repeats his racist taunt. And so, he’s trying to get a rise out of us. He says all sorts of outrageous things, and I don’t make a point of answering any one of them.”
Chao has declined to comment on the racist nickname on at least two previous occasions. In a recent visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown, she dodged questions regarding the matter and instead urged fellow Asian Americans to “be proud of our heritage because now America is more diverse.”
Chao, 69, was the first cabinet member to resign in the aftermath of last year’s Jan. 6 Capitol invasion. She described the events as “shocking” and something that “I could not put aside.”
Apart from being a collateral target in Trump’s anti-McConnell posts, Chao has also been on the receiving end of direct attacks from her former boss. In August, Trump called her “crazy” and accused her family of working to “get rich on China,” fueling speculation about the extent of her involvement in her family’s business — U.S. shipping company Foremost Group — that reportedly operates mostly in China.
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