GOP House candidate Sery Kim loses support after xenophobic comments
Sery Kim, who is campaigning to be a congresswoman from Texas, faces backlash after saying of Chinese immigrants, 'I don't want them here at all.'
Two Republican congresswomen from California announced they’ll no longer support GOP House candidate Sery Kim of Texas after disparaging remarks she made about Chinese immigrants, according to a story by NBC News.
“I don’t want them here at all,” Kim said during a candidate forum in Fort Worth on Wednesday. “They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they don’t hold themselves accountable.”
Sery Kim, who formerly served in the Small Business Administration during the Trump administration, inspired laughter and cheers amongst the audience, according to another NBC report, as she went on “And quite frankly, I can say that because I’m Korean.”
California Republican Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel, also Korean American, made a joint statement Friday withdrawing their support for Sery Kim.
“We cannot in good conscience continue to support her candidacy,” they said, according to the report.
Read More: Halle Berry reacts to radio host’s racist comments: ‘All Black women are beautiful’
“As the first Korean American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and lift up fellow members of the AAPI community who want to serve their communities,” they said.
Young Kim and Steel spoke to an unapologetic Sery Kim in hopes of encouraging her to make amends, however, NBC reports that their efforts were unsuccessful.
“We talked with Sery Kim yesterday about her hurtful and untrue comments about Chinese immigrants, and made clear that her comments were unacceptable,” they said.
The Dallas Fort Worth Asian-American Citizens Council reportedly made a statement admonishing Sery Kim for her comments in a statement to NBC Dallas on Friday.
Read More: Mom takes legal action after LA teacher accidentally goes on racist rant on Zoom
“The DFW Asian-American Citizens Council strongly condemns the remarks of Sery Kim,” they said. “Racist and ethnic slurs, regardless of the source, have no place in today’s society. Ms. Kim being of Korean descent does not give her license to use harmful language against Chinese or any other ethnic group.”
The Centers for Disease Control discovered that many of the first cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. resulted from people traveling from Europe, where they were likely infected.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
