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By Duncan Hardock
In February, a series of tweets attacking former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao’s ethnicity had politicians and advocacy groups up in arms. The comments were made by the liberal PAC Progress Kentucky, as part of their campaign to oust Chao’s husband Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky.
On February 14th, Progress Kentucky’s official Twitter account posted: “This woman has the ear of @McConnellPress – she’s his #wife. May explain why your job moved to #China!”
The tweet linked to an article by Jeff Rense, a radio host whose program has been identified by the Anti-Defamation League as being one of several “conspiracy-oriented Internet radio shows that often feature anti-Semites and extremists.” Reese claims Chao “wants to denigrate American workers in order to justify the importation of foreign workers” and calls her a “public enemy.” Regardless of how polarizing Chao’s politics may be, this kind of attack is profoundly offensive.
Elaine Chao was born in Taiwan, but immigrated to the United States at the age of eight. She didn’t speak any English when she first arrived, but she went on to earn an economics degree from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Her tenure as Labor Secretary from 2001-2009 was the longest since World War II, and according to her personal website, she was “the only member of President Bush’s original cabinet to have served the entire eight years of his Administration.”
McConnell’s campaign quickly responded to the racist tweets.“People should be fired and a public apology should be issued.” Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign adviser said, “Secretary Chao and her family are shining examples of the American Dream: salt-of-the-earth folks who escaped oppression, came here with nothing, joined our great melting pot, worked exceptionally hard to build a thriving business, and then dedicated so much of their lives to giving back,” he said. “It is unconscionable that anyone would use blatant race-baiting for political gain. Progress Kentucky should be ashamed of themselves.”
Louisville Public Radio WFPL first broke the story, and it became national news when the Washington Post picked it up. Soon, leading party leadership began commenting on the story. Prominent Republicans quickly called for public condemnation of the comments. National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Brad Dayspring told the Washington Post; “This is disgusting and must be condemned immediately by top Democrats across the board.”
Actress Ashley Judd, who recently announced she would not be challenging McConnell for the Senate seat, but had been making waves amongst Kentucky’s Democrats, took a more holistic tone in her condemnation of Progress Kentucky. “Whatever the intention, whatever the venue, whomever the person, attacks or comments on anyone’s ethnicity are wrong & patently unacceptable,” Judd commented on her official Twitter account.
In response to public pressure, Progress Kentucky issued a public apology on their website, and they reported that the volunteer responsible for the comments had been dismissed and more stringent oversight had been put in place to prevent something like this from happening again.
“Those tweets did not reflect our values, and we are committed to making sure nothing like that happens again,” executive director Shawn Reilly posted on the group’s website. “We also apologize to our many supporters, and all Kentuckians working for change in 2014, for those communications. Comments with references to race, ethnicity or sexual orientation have no place in any debate, and we are deeply embarrassed by such a mistake.”
WFPL reported, “many Democratic lawmakers who were once behind the group are either pulling their support or questioning if they will continue to back them.”
In the weeks following the controversy, McConnell’s campaign launched a six-figure 30-second television spot that starred Secretary Chao. The ad, titled “We Love Kentucky,” features Chao defending her husband and references Progress Kentucky’s comments; “You’ve seen the ads attacking my husband. As Mitch McConnell’s wife, I’ve learned to expect them. Now far-left special interests are also attacking my ethnicity. Even attacking Mitch’s patriotism, because he’s married to me. That’s how low some people will stoop.”
Unfortunately, racist tweets such as this one are not isolated events. The tweet that set the story in motion was just one in a series of comments by Progress Kentucky negatively referencing Chao’s ethnicity and family history, including comments claiming Chinese money is “buying elections in #KY” and condemning Chao for her father’s ties to Chinese industry.
What do you think of racist slurs in politics and on Twitter? Let us know on Facebook or on Twitter @AsianFortune_DC
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