April 14, 2022
ORANGE COUNTY, California—Republican Rep. Michelle Steel’s campaign condemned Democratic opponent Jay Chen over “racist” comments he made that appeared to mock the congresswoman’s accent.
Steel is a first-generation Korean-American. Her English doesn’t seem so bad, since she was overwhelmingly elected to the Board of Equalization twice, the Board of Supervisors twice, and most recently to Congress.
Chen, a Democrat running against Steel, made the comments while speaking at an April 7 meet-and-greet in the Congregation B’nai Tzedek synagogue in Fountain Valley, California, reports FOX News.
“Yeah, so she just had another town hall the other day. And, umm, it’s tough. Like, we’ve transcribed it,” Chen said.
“You kind of need an interpreter to figure out exactly what she’s saying,” the Democrat added, drawing laughter from the crowd. “The more she speaks, the better for us.”
Chen is the son of Taiwanese immigrants and it’s safe to assume, that other people will need an interpreter to figure out what they’re saying when Chen isn’t translating for them. Steel speaks three languages: Korean, Japanese, and English.
A spokesman for Steel’s campaign condemned Chen’s comments as “racist” and called on the Democrat to apologize.
“America is a country built on immigrants,” the spokesperson said. “Michelle Steel is a first-generation Korean American who speaks English as her third language, and these despicable, racist comments from Jay Chen have absolutely no place in our community. Chen owes everyone an explanation, particularly following recent reports he continues backing the Chinese Communist Party’s Confucius Institutes in our educational system.”
Jay Chen has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. According to a Washington Free Beacon report, Chen led the charge as a member of the Hacienda La Puente school board to bring the Confucius Classroom program to the school district back in 2010.
The report states the Confucius Classroom program is bankrolled and operated by the Chinese Ministry of Education and has direct ties to the collegiate Confucius Institute program.
The State Department designated the Confucius Institute program as a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda arm back in 2020.
This isn’t the first time Chen insulted Steel. According to Hon. Fred M. Whitaker, Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County, Chen was caught on Zoom telling supporters Michelle relies on “talking points fed to her by her husband” last month.
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