As part of his efforts leading up to Election Day, former President Donald Trump will address the Asian American and Pacific Islander community at a rally in Nevada on Thursday.
Trump will take the stage in Las Vegas along with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in an event that is one of his first focused on Asian American communities. The Unite for Change rally, organized by the conservative political action committee Turning Point USA, will feature musical performances and speeches culminating in a keynote speech from Trump.
Organizers say they aim to engage Asian voters in the conservative movement and convince them that Trump is the best choice for them.
“These are voters whose values align closely with the conservative platform, but who have not received enough attention from our movement,” Turning Point founder and president Charlie Kirk said in a press release. “Just as we are seeing massive shifts among Hispanics and the Black community, this is a group that is poised to resonate powerfully with President Trump’s message of economic empowerment, law and order, safe streets and a return to orderly, sound immigration policies .”
Asian Americans are the fastest growing demographic group in Nevada, making up 12% of the state’s electorate, with Filipinos making up the largest subgroup. Exit polls after the 2020 election showed that 58% of eligible voters in the community supported President Joe Biden, while 40% supported Trump.
The Harris campaign has been courting them for months.
Progressive AAPI leaders disagree with Kirk’s characterization of Asians in the Trump-aligned state, saying their observation is the opposite.
“Our team has knocked on more than 150,000 doors this year, and we’re not hearing that Trump’s message is resonating. In fact, many people are tired of his rhetoric,” said Eric Jeng, executive director of nonprofit One APIA Nevada. “The people we spoke to, including small business owners and working families, are still feeling the impact of his administration’s actions — from tax cuts for the wealthy and mishandling of the pandemic to the rise in anti-Asian hate .”
But Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung says the former president has long been a champion of AAPI interests.
“There has been no greater advocate for the AAPI community than President Trump as he created an environment that provided diversity, equal opportunity and prosperity for all,” he said. “Anyone who says otherwise is disgustingly using the AAPI community to play political games for their own benefit.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
