Donald Trump announced his Asian Pacific American Advisory Committee Sunday, a day before he is scheduled to debate Hillary Clinton.
Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo and Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph Torres will serve as the council’s co-chairs, according to a statement made by Trump’s campaign.
The Republican presidential nominee’s campaign said the committee – which includes elected, appointed and grassroots leaders – will support and strengthen ties between the AAPI community and the campaign by addressing issues that concern Asian Americans.
Jason Chung, the Trump campaign’s coalition adviser, told NBC News that those issues include concerns about education, employment and the future of America’s economy. Committee members were chosen to represent both the ethnic and geographic diversity of the AAPI community, Chung said.
Asian American voters overwhelmingly support Democrats, with 66 percent of them having a favorable view of the Democratic party, in comparison to 28 favorability toward Republicans, according to a spring survey conducted by AAPI groups.
Chung said he believes numbers will change once it is time to vote. “Come November, the polls will reflect that Mr. Trump will have support among Asian Americans,” Chung told NBC News.
Dr. Lisa Shin, a Korean American Republican member of the committee from New Mexico, said supporting Trump will bring the change AAPIs need in Washington.
“The Trump/Pence ticket will bring meaningful change to Washington. No longer will D.C. bureaucrats decide what’s best for Asian American and Pacific Islander families,” Shin said in a statement. “Supporting Mr. Trump and Governor Pence will allow AAPIs to truly have a voice in how we want to educate our families and raise our children.”
News of Trump’s Asian Pacific American Advisory Committee comes eight months after Clinton formed her own AAPI leadership council, which includes more than 150 elected officials and community leaders.
Prominent members of Trump’s committee include Tian Wang, one of the organizers for the group Chinese Americans for Trump, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who represented Trump at the 2016 Presidential Election Forum hosted by AAPI Vote and the Asian American Journalists Association.
