I Did Not Know Koreans Were Allowed to Serve in the US Congress.

Tue, April 6, 2021, 12:23 AM

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Donald Trump

A Texas congressional candidate and former Trump administration staffer is facing criticism for racist remarks that she does not want Chinese immigrants coming to the U.S. "at all," blaming them for stealing intellectual property and spreading COVID-19.

"I don't want them here at all," Sery Kim said in a forum for candidates of Texas' 6th Congressional District held last week. "They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they don't hold themselves accountable."

Kim — a Republican who worked in the Small Business Administration under former President Donald Trump — followed her remark with, "And quite frankly, I can say that because I'm Korean."

Two Korean-American Republican congresswomen subsequently revoked their endorsements of Kim, saying in a statement that they were "hurtful, untrue ... [and] unacceptable."

"As the first Korean American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and lift up fellow members of the (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community who want to serve their communities," California Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel said in a statement. "We talked with Sery Kim yesterday about her hurtful and untrue comments about Chinese immigrants, and made clear that her comments were unacceptable."