Roving Periscope: The WH downplays Biden’s rant on xenophobia of India, others
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Six months ahead of the crucial Presidential elections, the White House on Thursday tried to ‘control’ the damage caused by US President Joe Biden’s ‘xenophobic’ remarks about India, Japan, Russia, and China, clarifying that he was making a “broader point.”
“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. Immigrants are what makes us strong,” Biden, 81, was reported by the media as saying on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserted that America’s allies and partners “know very well” how much Biden “respects them.”
“He (Biden) was making a more broad comment, speaking about this (US) country and about how important it is to be a country of immigrants and how it makes our country stronger. And so, that’s what he was talking about,” she said.
At a fundraising event on Wednesday, President Biden called two of the US’s QUAD partners – India and Japan – along with China and Russia “xenophobic.”
“Xenophobia” was hurting the economic growth of these nations, he said, suggesting these four nations did not accept migrants.
“One of the reasons why our economy’s growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” Biden was quoted as saying.
Jean-Pierre said that if one looked at the last three years, President Biden has “certainly focused” on America’s diplomatic ties with India and Japan, with whom it shares a “strong relationship.”
“He was talking about who we are as a country, about the importance of being in a country of immigrants, especially as you see the attacks that we have seen very recently, in the last couple of years, those attacks on immigrants, in particular,” she said, defending the US President.
President Biden is always going to be “really clear” about speaking on matters that matter to the American people. “We are a country of immigrants. That matters. And we’ve seen these attacks. And so, the President is never going to shy away from that,” she said.
It was important to remember that the US is a “country of immigrants”, she said, and added that her explanation was a way to make clear what Biden “was talking about and what he was focusing on in those comments”. “A country of immigrants makes us stronger. It is important to be very clear about that,” she added.
Addressing his supporters at a Democratic Party fundraiser and the event to mark the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month on Wednesday, Biden said, “This election is about freedom, America, and democracy. That’s why I badly need you. You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants.”
Biden’s remarks on Japan and India came as a surprise since he has made a point of strengthening ties with the two democracies since taking office in 2021.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was at the White House for a state dinner only three weeks ago when the two countries celebrated their “unbreakable” partnership, and Biden said the US and Japan enjoyed the “same values, the same commitment to democracy and freedom”.
Also, he welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for a state visit last year.
Japan and India are also part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a security grouping of democracies viewed as being against China.
Japan has the lowest level of migration of any Group of Seven nation, although it has been slowly opening its doors to outsiders to compensate for its rapidly aging population. No more than 2 percent of Japan’s population are immigrants, compared with 14 percent in the US.
Biden’s remarks came amid attacks by his opponents and the Republican Party for his immigration policies.
