Chuck Grassley faces backlash after remark about Asian-American judge

Sen Chuck Grassley was criticised after making a remark about a Korean-American judge’s ethnic background in a statement that was taken as playing into racial stereotypes about Asians.

During a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday for Judge Lucy Koh, who is nominated to join a federal appeals court, Mr Grassley congratulated Ms Koh and “your people” for having, as the senator described it, a strong work ethic.

“What you said about your Korean background reminded me a lot of what my daughter-in-law of 45 years has said: ‘If I’ve learned anything from Korean people, it’s a hard work ethic. And how you can make a lot out of nothing,’” he said, before adding: “So I congratulate you and your people.”

A spokesman clarified in a statement that Mr Grassley’s daughter-in-law is also Korean-American.

"Sen Grassley’s intent was to be complimentary, not to insult anyone," Taylor Foy told the Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in Mr Grassley’s home state. "Chairman Durbin invited Judge Koh to share the inspiring story of her family’s immigration to the United States. Sen Grassley shared that he has similarly been inspired by the immigration story of his daughter-in-law, who is also Korean-American."

The comment was nevertheless rebuked by Rep Judy Chu, a California Democrat and the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress.

“Even as a compliment, assigning any trait to a whole community is the definition of prejudice. Treating all members of a group as the same invites mistreatment. It may not be the same incitement to violence seen in other slurs, but is harmful none the less,” she wrote on Twitter.

Another congresswoman, Rep Grace Meng, was more direct in her criticism: “Soooo….who’s gonna tell him that Korean Americans are American too?”

Asian Americans have long battled model minority stereotypes and more recently have also faced a troubling rise in hate crimes targeting their community in connection to political rhetoric surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Grassley is the most senior Republican in the Senate, one of only two senators who were in the body during the administration of former President Jimmy Carter. He is running for reelection next year, and is favoured to win in solidly red Iowa, where he won reelection in 2016 by a 25-point margin.

In a Des Moines Register poll published late in September, Mr Grassley led his likely Democratic challenger, Rep Abby Finkenauer, by 18 percentage points.