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‘Fishy’ mailer targeting Asian American New Jersey candidate Andy Kim deemed racist

A mailer targeting Asian American New Jersey candidate Andy Kim has been called out for racism.

According to Think Progress, a mailer targeting an Asian American candidate in New Jersey has been slammed for racism.

Andy Kim is a Korean American Democratic candidate who is a former Obama White House staffer. He is running for election in New Jersey against Rep. Tom MacArthur.

The New Jersey Republican State Committee, which is supporting the re-election of MacArthur distributed mailers attacking Kim. Many are deeming the mailers as racist.

An image of Kim, who currently has a 2-point lead against MacArthur, was juxtaposed with images of a fish market in the mailer. Kim’s name was written in a font typically used by Chinese takeaways.

This is not the first time a MacArthur ad has been criticised for racism. In one of his earlier campaigns, the Republican told voters that Kim is “not one of us”.

Democratic State Chairman John Currie is calling out the mailers for its racism.

“Congressional Republicans like Tom MacArthur can’t run on their record, because their only legislative accomplishment is a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations that screwed middle class taxpayers in New Jersey,” Currie said. “So they’re left with the kind of racist, dog whistle politics that this mailer demonstrates, trying to make a distinguished public servant like Andy Kim into an ‘other.’”

Harrison Neely, a spokesman for the Republican State Committee denied the racist claims, stating that MacArthur adopted two Korean children.

“This is an ugly attempt to change a bad news cycle for Andy Kim where he was given two Pinocchios from the Washington Post for lying about his resume again,” Neely said. “False cries of racism are a sign that the Kim campaign is coming unhinged down the stretch. Let’s not forget that Tom MacArthur has two Korean children.”

In May West Virginia GOP Senate candidate Don Blankenship denied claims of racism after using “Chinaperson” in a campaign video.