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"I regret if my specific remarks to the national API community on my full absorption of their concerns caused any offense"

Representative Ed Case of Hawaii is apologizing for saying he was “an Asian trapped in a white body.”

Democratic Hawaii Congressman Ed Case has issued an apology for saying he was “an Asian trapped in a white body.”

The 66-year-old politician reportedly made the comments on Tuesday at an event celebrating the Asian-American and Pacific Islander members of Congress, according to attendee Nicholas Wu.

“Congressman Ed Case, who represents a majority Asian district in Honolulu – “I’m an Asian trapped in a white body”,” Wu wrote on Twitter.

Case represents the first district of Hawaii, which has the largest percentage of Asian Americans in the country.

In a statement, Case apologized for his comments saying he was “fiercely proud” to represent “multicultural” Hawaii.

“I am fiercely proud of representing the state with the highest percentage of many ethnic groups in our country including Asian and Pacific Islanders (API), a state where no ethnic group has been in the majority for generations,” Case said in his statement.
“Like so many others from Hawaii who treasure our multicultural heritage, I have absorbed and live the values of our many cultures,” Case added. “They and not my specific ethnicity, are who I am, and I believe that this makes me an effective advocate on national issues affecting our API community.”