Tokyo, 3 May, /AJMEDIA/
The White House on Thursday sought to play down President Joe Biden’s characterization of critical U.S. ally Japan as a “xenophobic” country, saying his aim was to highlight how important it is for the United States to be a country of immigrants.
At a fundraising event on Wednesday with many Asian American voters as part of his 2024 presidential election campaign, Biden said, “You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” according to the White House.
While lauding immigration and diversity as key strengths of the United States, Biden was quoted as saying at a Washington hotel, “Look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, as well as Biden’s national security spokesman John Kirby, emphasized Thursday that the president was making a broader comment on his own country, when each was asked why he lumped Japan and India in with two U.S. adversaries, China and Russia.
“Our allies and partners know very well how much this president respects them,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.
She added that a recent visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Washington again exemplified the two countries sharing “a commitment to democratic values and strong bonds of friendship between our peoples.”
Separately, Kirby said, “Our allies and partners know well in tangible ways how President Biden values them, their friendship, their cooperation and the capabilities that they bring across the spectrum on a range of issues.”
“We stand by our commitments,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt out there on anyone (about) the sincerity of those commitments.”
The fundraiser event, which was largely closed to the press, came on the first day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Biden used his speech to swipe at former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the Nov. 5 election. His remarks about “xenophobic” countries came as he was criticizing Trump over a number of issues, including describing the former president’s rhetoric as anti-immigrant.
A proclamation released by Biden before the start of the heritage month called on all U.S. citizens to learn more about the histories of Asian Americans, native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders.
In the document, he also said that “racism, harassment and hate crimes” against them persist, and vowed efforts toward fully realizing the foundational idea of the United States that “we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.”
