Shortly after President Joe Biden called Japan, a close American ally, “xenophobic” in a speech on immigration, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to backtrack on or apologize for his comments, instead defending them when pressed on why he was verbally lumping an American ally in with adversaries like China, and Russia.
As background, in an early May of 2024 speech, President Biden lauded America’s generally pro-immigration past and present and attacked countries that have not been as welcoming to immigrants, ignoring that for much of the 20th century America’s immigration policies were relatively restrictive. Further, he lumped in American allies like Japan and India in with adversaries like Russia and China, which was unfortunate.
He said, “You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to – the reason – look, think about it – why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants.”
The Japanese embassy, in a statement to POLITICO on Biden’s comments, said, “It is unfortunate that some of the comments were not based on an accurate understanding of Japan’s policies.” The embassy continued, stating, “We have raised this point to the U.S. government and explained Japan’s positions and policies once again.”
The embassy did, however, add “that his comment was not made with the intent of undermining the importance and permanence of the Japan-U.S. relationship.” Further, it noted that it would continue working with America, saying, “We will continue to work with the U.S. to further strengthen our bilateral tie, building on the achievements of this official visit,”
KJP refused to condemn or backtrack on those comments when asked, “So, the — the President last night described Japan as “xenophobic” along with China and Russia. Was that intentional? And does — does the President want to apologize to Japan?”
Instead, she defended them, saying, “So, look, I think the broader — the broader — the broader case that he was trying to make, which I think most — most leaders and allies across the globe understand, is he’s — he was trying — he was saying that when it comes to — when it comes to — when it comes to who we are as a nation, we are a nation of — of immigrants. That is in our DNA.”
She added, “And — and so — and you’ve heard the President say this, and you’ve heard us say it more as an administration. It’s in — it makes us better. We are stronger for it because of the fact that in our DNA we are a nation of immigrants. And I think that’s probably very important to note as well. And that’s what he was — the broader sense he was trying to make.”
Listen to her defend the comment here:
Biden’s comments on immigration comes as he continues facing pushback on and criticism regarding his border policies, particularly the relatively open US-Mexico border, over which so many illegal immigrants have poured that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defied him and shut down at least part of the Texas-Mexico border on its own.
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