WASHINGTON – At a campaign fundraising rally attended by mostly Asian American donors and lawmakers on Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that He described the three countries as “xenophobic.”
Biden credited immigrants with boosting the U.S. economy, but went on to blame “xenophobia” for the struggling economies of Russia, China, Japan and India.
However, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with gross domestic product growing by 8.4% in the last three months of 2023.
Biden, who describes himself as a “gaffe machine,” was talking about “freedom, America, and democracy.”
“You know, one of the reasons our economy is growing is because of you and so many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” he said. Ta. “Let’s focus on the reasons, look at it, and think about it. Why is China stalling so much economically? Why is Japan in trouble? Why? Why Russia? Because they hate foreigners.”
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He added: “They don’t want immigrants. Immigrants make us stronger.”
Biden is not the first politician to make a gaffe.
At a summit in Washington, D.C., last year, former President Donald Trump claimed that Biden would “plunge the world into World War II,” confused Biden with Barack Obama, and said that in 2024 election polls, Biden boasted to the audience that he was leading Obama.
President Trump referred to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as Turkey’s leader and confused his Republican rival, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“By the way, they never covered the crowd on January 6th,” President Trump said at a rally before this year’s New Hampshire primary, shifting the conversation to the 2021 Capitol riot. “You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley… Nikki Haley was the head of security. We gave her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard, whatever they wanted. offered anything. They turned it down.”
Trump was still on track to defeat Haley in the primary.
The media and social media pounce on candidates’ gaffes, but will they affect the outcome of the campaign? Do candidates’ gaffes matter?
In the Trump era, voters have become accustomed to fiery rhetoric. − and rhetorical failure − Republican strategist William F.B. O’Reilly said a generation ago that would have been considered noteworthy.
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“Voters are now more likely to look at the big picture and ignore everyday mistakes,” he says. “Plus, the vast majority of voters already know who they’re voting for, and there’s little that will change their mind. Consider the hypothetical that President Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue. It turns out he was right.”
President Trump reportedly told an audience in Iowa in January 2016, “You could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and you wouldn’t lose any voters, right?” is a famous story.
Wild or grossly incorrect statements are not limited to Biden and his billionaire nemesis.
Former President George W. Bush once condemned the “unjust and brutal” invasion of Iraq, referring to Ukraine. (Bush is the one who invaded Iraq in 2003.) In fact, Wikipedia has a page dedicated to “Bushism,” a repository of his linguistic stumbles.
age factor
Democratic strategist Melissa DeRosa said gaffes are important to the extent that they reinforce a candidate’s weaknesses.
“Trump makes just as many gaffes as Biden, but because of the vulnerability of Biden’s age perception, his gaffes, whether fair or unfair, re-reinforce negative impressions that resonate with the public. , it hurts him even more.”
An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in February found that 86% of Americans think Biden, 81, is too old to serve as the next president, while 62% think Trump, 77, is too old to serve as the next president. I think I’m too old. The poll was conducted in the wake of special counsel Robert Hur’s allegation that he called Biden an “old man with a bad memory,” suggesting that age will continue to be a factor in the 2024 election. There is.
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Voters forgive, forget, and ignore.
Biden may have gotten off to a rocky start to commemorating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May), but for most attendees at events this week, the comments were It made little sense, said event organizer Shekhar Narasimhan. Private fundraising activities.
“My listening to him was circumstantial,” said Narasimhan, an Indian immigrant and founder of the political action committee AAPI Victory Fund. “In contrast to Donald Trump, who wants to deport people and say, ‘Look what happens when you become a xenophobe.'” .
“We were drawing a contrast with other countries that have more closed immigration systems,” Biden said. “I didn’t hear from Japanese Americans or even Indian Americans, ‘Oh, what was he saying there?'”
As for lumping India in with other economies, he said, “I don’t understand that comment.”
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the “broader point” Biden was trying to make was that the U.S. “is a nation of immigrants, and it’s in our DNA.” Stated.
O’Reilly said high-profile gaffes in recent decades may have hurt candidates, but they won’t have the same lasting impact.
“The news cycle moves so fast these days that other interesting news nuggets always save the story,” he says. “If President Biden had called Americans xenophobic, there might be lasting damage, but he shouldn’t do that in this case. There’s a lot more interesting stuff going on.”
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Biden’s remarks came just three weeks after the White House hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Biden praised the “unwavering alliance” between Japan and the United States.
Last summer, the White House hosted Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi on a state visit, aiming to deepen ties with the country as a counterweight to China.
“Our allies and partners know how much the president respects them,” Jean-Pierre said. “Obviously, we have strong relationships with India and Japan.”
Democratic strategist Rhys Smith said gaffes become important when they reinforce a candidate’s existing vulnerabilities.
“When Mitt Romney dismissed 47% of the nation as dissatisfied, it reinforced his image as completely out of line,” she said.
Contributor: Joey Garrison
SWapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X (formerly Twitter) @SwapnaVenugopal.
