President Biden on Wednesday called longtime ally Japan, along with China and Russia, “xenophobic” and blamed the recent performance of their economies on racial prejudice.
The president made the remarks during an off-camera fundraiser to mark the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Washington, DC, three weeks after hosting Prime Minister Japanese Fumio Kishida and his wife during a day. elaborate state dinner in the White House.
“You know, one of the reasons our economy is growing is because of you and many others, why?” said the president. “Why do we welcome immigrants. Look, the reason, look, think about it. Why is China so bad economically? Why is Japan in trouble? Why Russia?… Because they're xenophobic. They don't. Immigrants are what make us strong. It's not a joke, because we have an influx of workers who want to contribute, from Virginia to Nevada we could do a lot more together.”
The White House did not respond to a request to clarify his statements.
Susan Walsh / AP
It's unclear how the president's off-camera comments will go down with Japanese officials. Last month, when Mr. Biden hosted Kishida, he called the two nations' ties “unbreakable” and said the two nations share “the same values, the same commitment to democracy and freedom with dignity.”
Japan has the lowest immigration rate of the Group of Seven advanced economies. No more than 2% of its population are immigrants.
In the US, foreign-born immigrants make up about 14% of the population, according to the Census Bureau.
