Some Asian American lawmakers feel they’ve been overlooked in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s debate — and they worry it means the president is overlooking the key constituency they’re a part of, too.
“We want a meeting with the president,” Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu told NOTUS. “He’s already done it with [the Congressional Black Caucus] and is arranging stuff with others, but we haven’t heard anything about us, and we are part of the tri-caucus.”
“What I want ultimately is for Biden to take seriously the fact that [Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders] were the margin of victory in Georgia and Nevada in 2020,” Chu added.
In the aftermath of Biden’s debate performance, he has made several public appearances and held private calls with key allies, including the CBC, which he thanked for its loyalty. But the same has not happened for other caucuses, and resentment is starting to build.
Chu said that a majority of the members in CAPAC agree with her concern about the president failing to meet with the caucus or to make a speech that addresses their specific issues. Many caucus members who want a meeting with the president have already backed Biden’s decision to continue his election bid but are hoping to have an open forum to ask specific questions and bring home answers to voters in their districts.
“Members of Congress need to be able to go back to their districts and tell people that they’ve met with the president and that they feel comfortable that he’s able to do the job and raise whatever concerns they’ve heard from home,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a member of CAPAC and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told NOTUS. “It is so important for him to do these meetings.”
Asian Americans overwhelmingly supported Biden’s victory in 2020. Exit polls suggest that 61% voted for him, compared to 34% for Donald Trump. However, a national survey by the APIA Vote nonprofit released this week found that Biden could be slipping among Asian American voters.
Jayapal told NOTUS she has also sent requests for a meeting between Biden and both the Progressive Caucus and CAPAC. The White House told her she and members of CPC would meet with Biden this week, but she said she has yet to receive a date or time for it.
A meeting with CAPAC is not in the works yet, according to Chu. But following requests from the group, Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to speak at the caucus-organized presidential town hall for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philadelphia on Saturday.
The Biden-Harris campaign said in a statement that “President Biden and this campaign won’t take any vote for granted this November.” On Tuesday, Team Biden-Harris launched an organizing and engagement program aimed at shoring up the votes from the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
Biden and Harris “have taken unprecedented actions to combat anti-Asian hate, lower costs, tackle health disparities, create good-paying jobs, and spur a boom in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander entrepreneurship and small business creation,” a campaign spokesperson said. “And they are deeply grateful to the members of CAPAC for their invaluable partnership as long standing advocates for our nation’s AANHPI communities.”
Not all members of the caucus see further direct engagement from Biden as a necessity for the survival of his campaign right now, however. Some even defended the outreach and record of the president thus far.
“President Biden has really made a commitment to diversity,” Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono told NOTUS. “I sit on the Judiciary Committee where I have seen a very diverse group of judicial nominees, more so than any other president in the history of our country.”
“Sure, all of us would like for the president to make sure that he’s paying attention to every group out there,” she added. “I’m going to do everything I can to continue to focus on the fact that we have a compulsive pathological liar who is running for president, and we have to make sure they get nowhere near a White House.”
Rep. Shri Thanedar said he “supports Judy’s request” to the president but that Biden “has made himself accessible and has spent a lot of time” with Asian American and Pacific Islander lawmakers.
“More time is always better though, of course,” he said.
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Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.