Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has criticized former President Donald Trump amid his racist volleys directed at her and his other anti-Asian rhetoric.
Trump, who is ramping up his 2024 presidential campaign, has repeatedly made racist attacks against Chao, who served in his administration, in recent months. Trump’s attacks on Chao often involve jabs at her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has drawn Trump’s ire since his public condemnation in the wake of the Capitol riot on Sept. 6. January 2021.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump tried to baselessly suggest that Chao played a role in classified documents recently found at President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware and at an office in Washington.
“Coco Chow has anything to do with classified Joe Biden documents being shipped to and stored in Chinatown?” Trump wrote. “Her husband of hers, Old Broken Crow, is VERY close to Biden, the Democrats, and of course, China.”
In a statement shared with NBC News condemning the former president’s attacks, first reported by politicalChao, who immigrated to the US from Taiwan as a child, spoke about the racism Asian Americans have faced.
“When I was young, some people deliberately misspelled or mispronounced my name. Asian Americans have worked hard to change that experience for the next generation,” Chao said. «He doesn’t seem to understand that, which says a lot more about him than it will say about Asian Americans.»
Chao has previously avoided responding to Trump’s personal attacks on her. Responding to a Truth Social post last month in which Trump again used a racial slur against her, Chao said in an interview with CNN that she thought «it would be very helpful if the media didn’t repeat that racist tweet.»
Chao’s latest statement comes after several high-profile shootings against Asian-Americans. It also comes as Trump has amplified his anti-Asian rhetoric as he begins his campaign for the 2024 presidential election. Other Republicans, such as Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., stopped short of condemning Trump’s attacks, often equating them with the leaning of the former president to use nicknames.
Chao was the first Asian American woman to serve in a presidential cabinet when she was appointed Secretary of Labor under the George W. Bush administration. She later served as Secretary of Transportation for the Trump administration.