IN a bid to paint America as a strong country that caters to immigrants, Biden took a swipe at its allies by calling Japan and India “economically struggling” for being xenophobic countries that do not welcome immigrants, while categorizing them alongside Russia and China.
“Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan in trouble? Why is Russia in trouble? And India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,” U.S. President Joe Biden, stated.
The American leader made the remarks during an off-camera fundraising event marking Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month earlier this week.
Several Japanese lawmakers expressed their displeasure at the 81-year-old’s remark.
A member of the conservative Nippon Ishin no Kai Party pointed out that there aren’t any countries that have solved the issue of migration problem until now, and proposed that Biden must solve the problem in New York first before saying things like this.
Meanwhile, a member of the House of Councilors and the leader of the populist Sanseitō Party, Sohei Kamiya, also slammed the U.S. President for his characterization of Japan. He told Biden that Japanese people are not xenophobic, but are just cautious after seeing the failures of the United States.
He also called out the American leader for meddling too much in Japan’s internal affairs.
The American leader’s remark also earned criticism from Republican Senator Marco Rubio who expressed his views through the X platform, where he slammed Biden for calling an important ally like Japan a xenophobic country while commenting on the reason why his staff doesn’t want him delivering speech in public without note cards to guide his choice of words.
“Biden included an important ally Japan along with China and Russia as a “xenophobic” country. That is why his staff doesn’t want him speaking without those note cards,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio, said.
Rubio is being talked about as a potential running mate for Donald Trump, who will attempt to reclaim his title from Biden in the upcoming presidential elections in November.
As Biden’s remark offended Japanese allies, several White House officials quickly came to his aid, with National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby stating that Biden was only making a broader point that the U.S. is “a nation of immigrants.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre also downplayed Biden’s controversial statement by emphasizing how the president respects its allies.
Biden’s criticisms of Japan came just weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met him at the White House where the American leader described their alliance as “unbreakable.”
