I really don’t want to write this since I have no interest in politics. I uphold the long Asian tradition–staying away from politics and governments as much as we can, even to our own disadvantage. However I have to write this to get it off my chest. There’s no better time of doing this than on a dreary day of rain, winds, soggy dirt piles of fallen leaves on the roadside.
According to the NBC exit poll, which I didn’t come across until last week, Asian American women voted for Trump at 39% level, higher than Asian American men by 11%, and higher than any other non-white demographic groups. At first I couldn’t believe my eyes and thought there must be a mistake somewhere. After all, polls are so inaccurate this year that they are not to be trusted.
Then I recalled things I’ve heard in person and online for the past four years–which I dismissed as insignificant outliers at the time–and realized now that I’ve seen signs but chosen not to really see them.
One woman told me this about two years ago when she and I were having dinner together. She’s been voting for democrats for years, but switching to independent. She said, “people just don’t give him a chance to do his job. Those reporters…” She meant Trump was unfairly singled out and bombarded by the media. “That’s one way of looking at it.” I said, hoping that I had said something less vague, but knowing that I wished for a pleasant evening, not an argumentative one. I wished I could say I couldn’t disagree more, but I am never a person in fighting armors.
Then my friend told me that in many Asian countries, women are attracted by Trump’s outspoken style and Trump daughter’s fashion sense. Trump’s Asian women fans organized groups online, following his tweets and buying her clothes. I just thought to myself that it’s lucky that these women don’t vote in American elections, because if they do, Trump would win in a landslide. I really don’t understand this infatuation. Trump’s tweets have not much to do with Asia and why do these women follow him? Also Trump’s daughter is a tall white girl, whose clothes style are mostly suitable for tall girls with bigger bone structures. It’s a world of difference from small delicate features of Asian women. Still, from Seoul to Hanoi, from Beijing to Tokyo, women are chasing Trump just like what they have been doing with Hollywood celebrities all these years.
Probably due to this “foreign influence”, Asian American women vote for trump 4% higher in 2020. This is after four years of xenophobia about race and immigration, from which many Asian families suffer; this is after the pandemic destroying countless small service oriented businesses which are the livelihood of many Asian Americans. I can just imagine, without the above two factors, the increase of the Trump voters can be even higher.
I have always thought women are more sensible, reasonable, rational, practical than men. I guess I have been wrong. Judging from my mother, my grandma, and my shallow talkative aunt, the percentage of crazy women are higher than I feel comfortable to surmise.
Haoyan Do 