The governor of Maryland has said his Korean American wife, daughters and grandchildren have all been racially abused during the pandemic....
The governor of Maryland has said his Korean American wife, daughters and grandchildren have all been racially abused during the pandemic.
Gov. Larry Hogan's said his wife, Yumi Hogan, and their family has felt the effects of discrimination amid a wave of racism against Asian Americans during COVID-19.
Speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union,' the Republican governor called the attacks on Asian Americans 'outrageous' and 'unacceptable.'
'My wife, my three daughters, my grandkids, all Asian, and they - they have felt some discrimination personally,' Hogan said.
'We feel it personally with my daughter, who sort of is sometimes afraid to come visit us, with people who had best friends that were being harassed at the grocery store, or being called names, and people yelling about the China virus, even though they´re from Korea and born in America,' he added.
And he praised President Joe Biden for condemning a surge in attacks in his first prime-time address to the nation last week, when the Democrat called the abuse 'un-American'.
Activists say broader anti-Asian discrimination has been fueled by talk of the 'Chinese virus' from former president Donald Trump and others.
Speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union,' the Republican governor called the attacks on Asian Americans 'outrageous' and 'unacceptable'
The governor of Maryland, pictured with his family, has said his Korean American wife, daughters and grandchildren have all been racially abused during the pandemic
Biden on Thursday condemned what he called 'vicious hate crimes' committed against Asian Americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, calling such acts 'un-American' and demanding they stop.
'Too often, we've turned against one another,' Biden said in his first primetime address, detailing the progress made in the fight against Covid-19.
'It's something we have to get under control. And I wish more people would be speaking out. And I appreciate the president's remarks,' Hogan said.
Also Sunday, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio acknowledged on CBS that hate crimes against Asian Americans were occurring with troubling frequency in his city, calling them 'horrendous and disgusting.'
Hogan praised President Joe Biden for condemning a surge in attacks in his first prime-time address to the nation last week, when he called the abuse 'un-American'
Hogan also defended his decision to ease some restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus after Tapper noted that health officials have asked governors to keep restrictions in place as the nation continues a slow process of vaccinating the population.
Citing downward trends in the number of new cases, hospitalizations and the positivity rate in Maryland, Hogan last week lifted capacity limits on restaurants, bars and most other businesses statewide, while allowing large venues to reopen at half capacity.
'We didn´t lift restrictions. We did raise capacity limits, but we kept the most serious mitigation measures in place, which is masking and distancing, which many states have changed. We did not,' Hogan said.
'I think we took a kind of a balanced approach that´s trying to continue to keep people safe, but also try to get some folks back to work and help support some of our small businesses.'
Tapper also asked Hogan if he blames former President Donald Trump for hesitancy among his supporters to get the vaccine.
'Well, I think he certainly didn't help any with his messaging...on masking and not speaking out strongly enough on the vaccines,' Hogan said.
President Joe Biden defended Asian-Americans during his Thursday night primetime address, his first as president, calling hate crimes agaist Asians 'wrong' and 'un-American'
Former President Donald Trump again used the term 'China Virus' in a statement sent out from his Mar-a-Lago office, taking credit for the U.S. government's swift vaccine effort. Some have said Trump's use of the term 'China Virus' has stoked racist sentiment toward Asians
Biden decried 'vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated' over the pandemic, which originated in China.
'At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans - they're on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives and still, still they're forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America,' Biden said.
'It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop.'
Reported anti-Asian hate crimes more than doubled from 49 to 122 last year across 16 major US cities including New York and Los Angeles - even as overall hate crime fell, according to a California State University study.
The report looked at events categorized as criminal in nature and showing evidence of ethnic or racial bias, using preliminary local police data.
It aligns with another study from the Stop AAPI Hate advocacy group showing more than 2,800 incidents of racism and discrimination - including non-physical forms - targeting Asian-Americans and reported online across the United States between March and December last year.
In January, an 84-year-old Asian-American man was killed in an attack in San Francisco, which the family believed to be racially motivated.
Video went viral of who police identified as 19-year-old Antoine Watson, slamming Vicha Ratanapakdee to the ground.
In February, video came out of a 91-year-old man in Oakland, California's Chinatown neighborhood being pushed to the ground, also during daytime hours.
Trump defended using 'China virus' a day before Stop APPI Hate started tracking anti-Asian hate crimes.
'It's not racist at all,' Trump said at a coronavirus taskforce press briefing on March 18. 'No, not at all.'
He said he used the term 'because it comes from China.'
'That's why,' he continued. 'I want to be accurate.'
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