“Why Don’t Asian Lives Matter to Joe Biden and His Left-Wing Allies,” asks a racist and deceitful political mailer produced by the not-for-profit group Citizens for Sanity. This is just one example of the group’s election propaganda and misinformation campaign targeting voters in Pennsylvania and across the county.
Citizens for Sanity, according to Open Secrets, is directed by a shady trio from the former Trump administration: Stephen Miller who orchestrated cruel border control methodology including that of separating parents from their children, along with John Zadrozny and Gene Hamilton, both of whom worked to end DACA. Citizens for Sanity is a campaign project of American First Legal Foundation, a right-wing litigation center founded by Miller.
“Asian American voters have massive power in Pennsylvania, and that power has rattled Republicans so much that they’re lobbing race-baiting misinformation at our people, trying to deceive and manipulate Asian American voters,” Executive Director of Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) Mohan Seshadri said in a press release.
According to the Pew Research Center, Asian Americans represent the most rapidly expanding and influential voting bloc in the United States, so it should come as no surprise that there would be attempts from the right to suppress their vote.
The GOP has a history of resorting to racism, fear and hatred as motivators. Donald Trump placed the Asian American community in a dangerous limelight during the Covid pandemic when he repeatedly referred to the virus as “Kung Flu” or the “China Virus.” Following Trump’s aspersions there was a noted uptick in Anti-Asian hate and violence.
API PA leaders are set on helping turn out voters to combat this MAGA-fueled campaign. The group detailed how those in the API community have “knocked more than 120,000 doors and made more than 2.25 million phone calls in 15 languages to Asian American voters across the state” in preparation for the midterm election.
“There’s a reason these bad faith actors are trying to suppress the AAPI vote — because they know our community and our voice will turn out in favor of defending freedoms, voting rights, and healthcare on November 8,” said Philadelphia Councilmember Helen Gym.
In addition to Pennsylvania, Arizona, Virginia, California, Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas have been targets of the bigoted messaging that includes print, radio and digital advertisements.
“Chinese Americans and other immigrants are the future of this country and our city,” said Wei Chen, Philadelphia Chinese community leader and co-founder of API PA. “Exploiting the pain Republicans caused our Chinese and Asian community by weaponizing COVID and stirring up violence is a loser’s move and it won’t fly on our watch. Asian voters are smart, supported, and have the facts to see through this scam.”
