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With just over a week left until Election Day, the Harris-Walz campaign is targeting Asian American voters in battleground states with a new ad focused on their “right to belong,” The Yappie has learned.
Unlike previous Asian American-centered ads from the campaign that have focused on specific, proposed legislation or target groups like business owners, the new 30-second video—titled “Our America”—touches on the history of anti-Asian discrimination and its legacy today.
Interspersed with images of #StopAsianHate signs, a Japanese American incarceration camp, and the late Vincent Chin, the ad reminds voters of the ways Asian Americans have been ostracized and counters that Vice President Kamala Harris “will never view us as ‘others.’”
It also accuses former President Donald Trump of wanting “unchecked power” and having “an outdated vision of America.”
Starting Saturday, the ad will appear in battleground states on platforms including Meta, Snap, YouTube, connected TV, iHeartRadio, and Pandora. It’s part of an expanded AAPI ad buy and will air on more Asian American-serving outlets than ever before, according to the Harris campaign.
“While Trump surrounds himself with loyalists to emulate the dictators he admires and intends to wield unchecked power to serve himself, Vice President Kamala Harris has only ever had one client: the people,” Andrew Peng, the Harris campaign’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander spokesperson, said in a statement first shared with The Yappie.
“This November, we have the power to protect our freedoms and elect a president who believes in the aspirations of our communities—and will never view us as ‘other,’” he added.
A painful history
For many, “Our America” will be the first time encountering this kind of history in a presidential campaign, even as it remains a relevant issue.
Though the overall hate crime rate decreased by 7% from 2019 to 2020, hate crimes specifically targeting Asian Americans increased by 150%. Trump has denied being racist, but a UCSF study found that his remarks about the “Chinese virus” led to a rise in online anti-Asian hate.
The stereotypes that pin Asian Americans as “perpetually foreign” drove a similar chapter of discrimination against Japanese Americans, who were wrongly imprisoned during World War II under the guise of protection against espionage, as well as the 1982 assault that killed Vincent Chin.
Blaming their layoffs on Japanese imports, two white auto workers beat Chin—a Chinese American man—to death in Detroit one night. Both pleaded guilty to manslaughter but avoided jail time.
Clinching their vote
Asian Americans have historically voted Democrat, but Republicans have made some gains in recent years—a 2021 analysis found that Democrats lost AAPI voters to the GOP in key battleground states across the 2016 and 2020 election cycles.
The community has largely been overlooked when it comes to voter outreach, but they’re often called the “margin of victory” due to their role in deciding razor-thin races.
While 97% of Asian American registered voters say a candidate’s policy positions are more important than their race or ethnicity, 68% also say it’s important to have a national leader who can “advance the concerns of the U.S. Asian community,” per a 2023 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.
Harris leads Trump by 38 points among AAPI voters, according to the latest data from AAPI Data and APIAVote.
The former president held his first campaign rally targeting AAPIs this week in Las Vegas, where he emphasized his plan to cut taxes, improve public safety, and deport undocumented immigrants. He also called Chinese President Xi Jinping “a friend of mine” and again referred to COVID-19 as “the China virus.”
Former Hawai‘i Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also spoke at the event.
Shawna Chen contributed reporting.
Editor’s note: Andrew Peng co-founded The Yappie but left his role as president prior to joining the Biden-Harris campaign earlier this year. He is no longer involved with The Yappie’s operations.
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