“As the first Korean-American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and elevate other members of the community (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) who want to serve their communities,” said California officials. Young Kim and Michelle Steel said in a statement. “We spoke to Sery Kim yesterday about his offensive and false comments about Chinese immigrants, and made it clear that his comments were unacceptable.”
“They steal our intellectual property, they give us the coronavirus, they are not responsible,” she continued, adding that “I can say that because I am Korean”.
Congressmen said in their statement on Friday that they “asked her to apologize and clarify her comments, especially as hatred against the AAPI community is increasing.”
“However, she has not shown public remorse and her words have been contrary to what we stand for,” they added. “We cannot, in good conscience, continue to support your application. We will continue to speak in support of our AAPI community.”
When contacted to comment on the revoked endorsements, Sery Kim said in a statement on Friday that “I am shocked that, in an effort to contain Asian-American hatred, the liberal media is turning to me, an Asian and an immigrant, in an effort to portray myself as anti-Asian and anti-immigrant just for speaking out against the oppressive Chinese Communist Party. “
Sery Kim told CNN in an interview on Thursday that her statements the day before “were addressed to the Communist Party of China, and were not addressed to Americans of Asian origin, especially to Chinese immigrants who were fleeing this oppressive regime.”
She added that she did not withdraw any of her comments and maintained her comments made at the event, which included a statement in an interview with the Dallas Morning News that anti-Asian violence has not worsened in the past year.
“The biggest difference now is that people are filming – and the media is choosing to report,” she told the newspaper. “Asians have always faced violence. It is no worse than before.”