Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign ad targeting Donald Trump drew backlash online, with many calling the video xenophobic and racist.
The ad, titled “Unprepared | Joe Biden for President,” targets Trump by highlighting his slow response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to HuffPost.
“When Trump rolled over for the Chinese, he took their word for it. Trump praised the Chinese 15 times in January and February as the coronavirus spread across the world,” the narrator said in the video.
Biden’s campaign ad will reportedly run online in the key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina and Florida.
However, the ad did not sit well with many people. Some took to Twitter to call out Biden’s xenophobic and racist campaign video.
Wow @JoeBiden. Already trying to out-Trump Trump. This kind of fearmongering is causing violent attacks on Asian Americans. If you are trying to reform your past history of racist policymaking, like your 1994 crime bill, you had better do some homework. This ain’t it. pic.twitter.com/ePHiVGQFf3
— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) April 19, 2020
“Wow @JoeBiden. Already trying to out-Trump Trump,” Cecilia Wang, a civil rights lawyer and former public defender, said in a series of tweets. “This kind of fearmongering is causing violent attacks on Asian Americans. If you are trying to reform your past history of racist policymaking, like your 1994 crime bill, you had better do some homework. This ain’t it.”
For those who can’t tell the difference between any two people with an Asian face, and who don’t know me, I am no fan of either the US government or the PRC government. Don’t @ me. Begone, all you trolls and bots.
— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) April 19, 2020
Look, I desperately want @JoeBiden to beat Trump. Of course I do. But I don’t want him to foment racist scapegoating. And I want him to build a platform all of us can fight for, and in carrying it out for us once he is in office. Once again, this ain’t it.
— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) April 19, 2020
Of all the ways Trump has actively obstructed a sensible public policy on covid, causing countless lives lost in the US, @JoeBiden’s going to fixate on the PRC angle and put out a propaganda film that will fuel racist attacks on Asian Americans? No, I am not having it.
— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) April 19, 2020
Some of you (not trolls or bots) are arguing that the Biden ad is attacking the Chinese government and not Asian Americans or Asians. But watch the ad. It is stoking fears of Chinese hordes coming into the US. And there’s this… https://t.co/WyYcu9f59z https://t.co/az57DQUebQ
— Cecillia Wang (@WangCecillia) April 19, 2020
New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou also called out Biden’s ad as racist and xenophobic in her tweet.
This is…not it.
This is racist and xenophobic and buys into the disgusting narrative that trump is spinning. I ask @JoeBiden why.
A race to be the most racist against Asians is not ok and not what we need right now. https://t.co/gF70BS8xu1— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) April 19, 2020
In another series of tweets, Wendy Y. Li, a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sociology, expressed her disappointment.
This is a devastatingly racist ad. Does Biden have #AAPI advisors? Because it sure as hell seems like he’s not listening to them, or to the #AAPI community who will suffer with this racist, xenophobic messaging. I’m so disappointed. https://t.co/XfRSxfiaMS
— Wendy Y. Li (@wendyliy) April 19, 2020
This ad blames China for deaths and job losses. With menacing music and blurred stock footage of Chinese people. The audio briefly says Trump is to blame, but the editing paints a much more complicated picture. Just look at the last shot and think about what they’re implying.
— Wendy Y. Li (@wendyliy) April 19, 2020
There are ways to critique the Chinese gov without harming Asians and Asian-Ams. Most ppl can’t tell us apart and don’t perceive us as American. Rising hate incidents and discrimination against #AAPIs. You have to be able to understand all of these things and act accordingly.
— Wendy Y. Li (@wendyliy) April 19, 2020
And factually, much of the spread happened bc of travel from Europe. Wouldn’t it be a better strategy to really hit hard on Trump’s response (the guy you’re trying to beat)?? There’s no shortage of footage or reporting on how botched this whole effort has been.
— Wendy Y. Li (@wendyliy) April 19, 2020
Here’s what others are saying:
So yeah that new Biden ad is racist. So sick of all the xenophobic, unscientific and fear-mongering framing of the coronavirus pandemic by politicians. They’re putting communities at risk.
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) April 19, 2020
Joe Biden’s latest ad is racist & xenophobic trash. Like he’s really trying to outdo Trump & lose votes simultaneously.
— Salem Snow (@Salem4Congress) April 19, 2020
I feel insane but can people covering the Biden ad who think they’re not xenophobic and racist please do some cursory reading on the history of how Americans treat disease and immigrants? That ad played into deep troubling historic tropes
— emma gallegos (@emmagallegos) April 20, 2020
Seeing that the Biden team is also willing to use racist, xenophobic rhetoric in their campaign ads, please look out even more for your family and friends of any Asian descent now and throughout the fall. Shit’s going to get bad I fear.
— (@jeremyjewitt) April 19, 2020
The U.S. currently has the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at over 766,212 and more than 40,905 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Feature Image Screenshot via Joe Biden
