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  • All right, let's get into it.

  • Look, tonight, I want to talk about the 2020 election.

  • Now, I know it's a year away,

  • but candidates are starting to reach out to key minority groups

  • because they know we matter.

  • It's pander season, baby. You've seen it.

  • Hillary dabbing,

  • Trump with the taco salad,

  • Ted Cruz making matzah.

  • Like, come on, what's next? Pete Buttigieg drinking from a paper bag

  • with Desus and Mero?

  • Oh, wait, that actually happened.

  • And, Asians, guess what?

  • Our pander time is coming sooner than you think.

  • Asian Americans have historically been very minor players

  • in the political process, but that's changing.

  • Asian Americans are the fastest-growing population group

  • in the country, with the number of eligible voters increasing

  • by about 150,000 each year.

  • Voters of color and particularly the new Asian American voters,

  • flip those legislatures, so we know that it's possible.

  • We've seen it happen in other states, but we most recently saw it in Virginia.

  • She's actually underselling what happened in Virginia.

  • In 2000, the state voted Republican for almost every major public office,

  • but over two decades, Virginia's Asian population exploded

  • by 125%, and now...

  • it's entirely blue. Think about that.

  • The capital of the Confederacy

  • is now the capital of hot pot andnh mì.

  • Asians also helped flip congressional seats

  • in the House takeover last year.

  • In Orange County, home to these three districts,

  • the Asian and Pacific Islander population

  • grew 27% in the last decade.

  • In 2018, all of these districts flipped.

  • This population growth is a huge opportunity for Democrats,

  • especially in 2020 battleground states like Nevada and Arizona.

  • There's just one problem, though.

  • Did you know that only 49%

  • of Asian Americans

  • who were eligible to vote,

  • voted in the last election?

  • That's really disappointing.

  • That's insane.

  • Asian American millennials

  • are the poorest performers of all.

  • This is the only area where we're under achieving.

  • All right, I get it. We suck at voting.

  • You could've just hired George Takei to flip us off for 30 seconds.

  • It's the same commercial.

  • Asians almost always have the lowest voter turnout

  • of any racial group, and I get why.

  • My uncle always says, “Hasan, look,

  • you can either make money or make a difference. You can't do both.”

  • You know how it is for us, right? But there's another reason

  • why we don't seem to care about politics.

  • Many of our voters that when we call them, they're like,

  • You're the first person who's ever called in language,

  • in my native language. No one else is outreaching to us.”

  • They say, “Nobody's ever called me before.

  • Nobody's ever talked to me about voting before.”

  • -You don't get phone calls? -No.

  • -You don't get mailings? -No.

  • -Nobody comes knocking on your door? -No.

  • We gotta keep this going.

  • Is anyone texting you?

  • No.

  • Did you finish Game of Thrones?

  • No.

  • And your favorite type of Japanese theater?

  • No.

  • Now, I'm assuming your favorite James Bond film is Dr...

  • -No. -Okay.

  • Is this bit getting old yet?

  • No.

  • I gotta disagree. Now, look, a lot of us don't feel spoken to,

  • but we can't be ignored as a political force.

  • That's why tonight, I want to focus on Asian American voters

  • because despite our growing numbers,

  • politicians in the media ignore us, even when we're running for president.

  • Andrew Yang has a tremendous center of gravity.

  • He's getting ignored for some weird reason.

  • Andrew Yang,

  • I don't know much about his platform.

  • Andrew Yang, who, you know,

  • suffered underneath a media blackout for months.

  • In the last debates, he ultimately received

  • less than seven minutes of airtime.

  • I didn't even know he was running.

  • I saw him next to Joe Biden on TV, and I thought it was Gran Torino.

  • For real, Andrew Yang is one of the first Asian Americans

  • to make a real run for president.

  • But even though he's polling higher than other candidates,

  • Yang gets the least amount of speaking time at the debates,

  • and he is constantly left off of graphics that he should be on.

  • I mean, something here is clearly off.

  • MSNBC has left Yang off graphics at least a dozen times.

  • How has NBC allowed him to go this under-reported?

  • He's a presidential candidate, not internal sexual misconduct.

  • So, if you don't know a ton about Yang's platform,

  • here's a quick taste.

  • The 44-year-old entrepreneur

  • who made millions running a test prep company

  • had zero political experience, but his campaign took off

  • with his proposal to give every American adult

  • $12,000 a year.

  • His supporters are known as theYang Gang.”

  • Yang Gang, yeah

  • I love the idea of a rapper bragging about making $1,000 a month.

  • He's like, “Who needs a Maybach? I'm making $33 a day.”

  • I'll be real.

  • I'm conflicted about Yang.

  • On one hand, he's the Asian guy running for president. Amazing.

  • But on the other hand, sometimes he goes a little too Asian.

  • Now, I am Asian, so I know a lot of doctors.

  • The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes math.

  • I'm gonna be the first president to use PowerPoint

  • at the State of the Union.

  • Fuck that! I'm the PowerPoint guy.

  • Dude, look, I don't get why he doubles down.

  • He has a hat that saysMATHon it.

  • And then, he has a pin that also saysMATHon it.

  • And I know that because he wore it when I interviewed him for this episode.

  • I remember growing up as a kid

  • calling out to my brother and my mom anytime I saw an Asian of any kind on TV.

  • I used to watch those kung fu movies on Saturday afternoons avidly.

  • I still freaking love those things.

  • Growing up as an Asian American,

  • how did politicians and presidential candidates speak to Asian Americans?

  • I have to be honest.

  • I don't recall them ever actually saying anything specifically.

  • Like, did you ever have a moment where you felt spoken to

  • as a member of the Asian American community?

  • Where you're like, “Wow, that's my guy.”

  • I think I grew up like a lot of other Asian American kids

  • of our generation,

  • where my parents certainly didn't emphasize American politics that much,

  • and they didn't present it as something

  • that my brother and I should necessarily be trying to get into ourselves.

  • Why do you think many Asian Americans have found politics

  • to not be relevant to their lives?

  • I think for most children of immigrants,

  • our mission is to do well in school and get good grades

  • and then get a good job and make some money.

  • And politics doesn't necessarily fit into that vision.

  • What's the biggest issue for Asian American voters

  • -in this upcoming election? -I'm a college student.

  • So, I'm just thinking about paying off my student loans.

  • -Kind of worry about the economy. -Immigration.

  • To help us for the small business.

  • What's most important to you as an Asian American voter in 2020?

  • Representation, really.

  • We see Crazy Rich Asians last year.

  • It's gonna be great. I think representation's great.

  • -So more props to you, man. -Are you going to be voting for him?

  • Well, we'll see where we're going, yeah.

  • I want to know all the candidates first, all right?

  • Do you think a $1,000 a month in every American's hands

  • would grow the economy?

  • I'm actually very iffy on that one.

  • I'm not sure about universal income at the moment.

  • -I appreciate this level of honesty. -Me too, man.

  • -I'ma put it out there. I'ma put it out there. -Yeah! He's keeping it real.

  • I feel like you have had that uphill battle.

  • Your mic getting cut off, them getting your name wrong

  • -a lot of times. -What's up with that?

  • John Yang living his best life,

  • crowd surfing-- Andrew Yang, excuse me.

  • Crowd surfing on the campaign trail.

  • Can you imagine if they just screwed up another candidate's name?

  • Like, would they ever sayFrank BidenorSandra Warren?”

  • And I was like, “You know, that never would happen.”

  • -Do you know who he is? -No.

  • That's fine. But you know who this is?

  • -Yeah, I know who that is. -Would you be interested

  • in the nation's first Asian American president?

  • Shit. Hell yeah. I'm Asian, right?

  • So, you would vote for that person for sure, like, no doubt?

  • Yes.

  • Well, you're looking at him. It's this guy!

  • -Yeah. -You're kidding.

  • He's been doing literally every interview and press outlet he possibly could.

  • -Yang Gang. He's in the Yang Gang! -How are you?

  • Not a plant! Not a plant!

  • -Yang Gang 2020. -Yang Gang.

  • -Look at that. -Yang Gang, right?

  • Yang Gang!

  • As an Asian American voter, have you felt spoken to?

  • Not particularly, I guess.

  • Mainly because I have certain concerns about certain policies that he has.

  • -That Andrew Yang has? -Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  • I had an issue when you were like, “Oh, I'm Asian. I know a lot of doctors.”

  • I feel like you're perpetuating a lot of stereotypes

  • that I just don't feel comfortable you saying that.

  • What's happening is pretty Asian.

  • You're saying you're disappointed in him.

  • Yeah. Yeah.

  • I'll tell you what, if Yang wins,

  • those two are definitely not getting their thousand bucks.

  • But I understand their frustration

  • with the model minority stereotype.

  • It's the idea that all Asians are hardworking, successful, shy,

  • straight-A students and the problem is...

  • we're not all shy and smart.

  • Some of us are dumb.

  • There are dumb Asians.

  • Let's be real. We all have a cousin or an uncle

  • or Dinesh D'Souza. We all have that.

  • Now, the real problem with model minority status

  • is that it pits us against other minority groups.

  • And it erases our diversity.

  • First off, when people think of Asian Americans,

  • they tend to think of people from India,

  • China, Japan, Korea, or the Philippines,

  • you know, the ones with the section at the grocery store.

  • But that's just a fraction.

  • We actually polled our audience before the show

  • to see how many ethnic groups you guys can name.

  • Okay, and you guys did...

  • pretty good.

  • On average, you got nine, which isn't bad

  • if the real answer wasn't over 19 different Asian ethnicities.

  • Three of you just wrote inMandalorian.”

  • He wears a helmet the whole time.

  • There are other huge disparities between groups.

  • Whether it's income or education, Asian Americans aren't a monolith.

  • Now one politician who's been good about recognizing this is Cory Booker.

  • He's a case study on how to reach out to the community.

  • In his home state of New Jersey, 10% of the population is Asian American.

  • So, to talk strategy, I met up with him in Edison, New Jersey

  • a town that is now 49% Asian American.

  • Here, you have this incredible community in New Jersey

  • that is touching every aspect of our culture,

  • except for often politics.

  • I think if you want to represent a state like this or any state frankly,

  • you should have a very proactive outreach to that community.

  • Yeah, man. I'm happy to be here in New Jersey, your state.

  • I'm proud you crossed the Hudson River.

  • Oh, of course. So, in New Jersey,

  • 75% of eligible white voters are registered to vote.

  • Whereas only 55% of eligible Asian American voters are registered to vote.

  • It kind of feels like a chicken and the egg situation

  • where politicians don't want to reach out to the community

  • 'cause there's low turnout.

  • -Right. -And...

  • the community doesn't want to turn out

  • because politicians won't reach out to them.

  • -You're right. -So, what comes first here?

  • I think it's got to be both, and I've seen this in black communities.

  • If you're not reaching out to go out there and register people to vote,

  • you're not gonna get a big turnout. You know, in Jersey,

  • we're trying to make it, we have Punjabi ballots.

  • We have Korean ballots.

  • We have Gujarati ballots. I mean, anything that we can do to create a system

  • where we're going to see more engagement because the best thing for democracy

  • is more democracy.

  • Actually, the best thing for democracy would be killing the electoral college,

  • but fine, Gujarati ballots.

  • Baby steps, right?

  • I think he was just want to flex that he knows Punjabi, all right?

  • Now, getting Asians to vote is hard enough,

  • but Booker has actually gotten Asians to support him in a way

  • I never thought was possible.

  • You have received campaign contributions, significant ones,

  • from the Indian American community, which is wild.

  • Yes.

  • I'm part of the Indian American community. It's very hard to get money out of them.

  • -How do I do it? -Well, number one, first of all,

  • you run for office,

  • and I'm confident if you ran for office, you would get tremendous support.

  • No, dude. The last time I was able to get money from the community,

  • I had to get married.

  • -And you're very not married, Cory. -I am very not married.

  • Then, when I found out Indian Americans just happily have given you money,

  • I'm like, you're straight-up doing PDA with Rosario. I'm like, “Dude...

  • You can't been doing that.”

  • -I-- yes. -With my wife, Cory,

  • we'll be holding hands and if I see anyone from the community.

  • I will immediately drop, James Harden Euro step around the Auntie

  • and keep it moving as if I don't know Beena.

  • -Is PDA bad? This is good counseling. -Yeah, man.

  • -Really? -Yeah.

  • You've never kissed your wife in public?

  • I mean, when I do, I definitely feel like it's dangerous.

  • -Really? -Yes.

  • Okay. I want to counsel you on that.

  • I mean, that's just another episode.

  • Yes, and that episode would be calledPDA: Tempting the Gods.”

  • Dude, we don't do PDA, you know this.

  • Have you ever seen your parents hug?

  • -Have you ever seen your parents kiss? -No.

  • Dude, if my dad was on his deathbed,

  • my mom would walk over and just give him a fist bump, likeHey.

  • It's been real, bro. I'll see you on the other side.”

  • That's what it's like.

  • Now, of course, some of the reason our community likes Cory

  • is because of what his party actually stands for.

  • The Indian American community is one of the wealthiest minority groups

  • in this country and generally, people say,

  • you vote with your pocketbook and yet,

  • more Indian Americans are Democrat than Republican, why is that happening?

  • So, look, the issues that are concerns

  • of the Indian American community is starting with immigration laws.

  • These are issues that the Democratic Party is so much better on.

  • We have a guy in the White House right now that is, in a hostile way,

  • talking down to minorities and to immigrants.

  • I think honestly, the racism just outweighed the tax benefit.

  • Yes.

  • The Asian community could shift elections in Nevada,

  • Wisconsin,

  • -Atlanta. -Yeah.

  • We already saw it a bit in 2018,

  • finally we got in New Jersey, our first Asian American congressperson.

  • -Right. -In Oklahoma,

  • the Asian American turnout rose

  • and that alone made the difference in flipping a seat.

  • It's kind of exciting. This sleeping giant in American politics about to wake up

  • -and to really flex. -Can I just pitch you a way

  • to definitely get the entire Asian American vote?

  • The entire diverse span of Asian Americans, yes.

  • Immigration is the one thing that connects all of us.

  • -Yes. -Just go, “Cory Booker, 2020...”

  • -Yes. -“I'll let your cousin in.”

  • I actually think that would be a very good law to have.

  • -“Cory Booker, 2020...” -Right.

  • “I'll give you one cousin.”

  • I'm down with that.

  • You're telling me you wouldn't put that on a Camry?

  • I would for sure.

  • My cousin Sahil is dying to come to America.

  • Now the fact that we're becoming this critical of a voting block is incredible.

  • Especially when you consider how far we've come.

  • For decades, Asians weren't just excluded from American politics,

  • we were excluded from America.

  • On the eve of the greatest wave of immigration in American history,

  • President Chester A. Arthur signed into law

  • an extraordinary piece of federal legislation.

  • It was called the Chinese Exclusion Act,

  • singling out as never before a specific race

  • and nationality for exclusion.

  • It made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America

  • and for Chinese nationals already here ever to become citizens of the United States.”

  • Yeah, in 1882,

  • President Face Pubes signed the Chinese Exclusion Act

  • barring all Chinese workers from the country.

  • So large numbers of Japanese, Korean, and Indian immigrants

  • came to fill the need for cheap labor.

  • But it confused Americans.

  • They're like, “Hey, I thought we banned Chinese people.

  • Where did all these Chinese people come from?”

  • So, just to be safe,

  • Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924,

  • which barred nearly all immigrants from Asia.

  • And just when things couldn't get any worse, this happened...

  • The American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii,

  • bombed just after dawn.”

  • When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor,

  • our West Coast became a potential combat zone.

  • Living in that zone were more than 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry,

  • two-thirds of them American citizens.

  • Notices were posted.

  • All persons of Japanese descent were required to register.

  • The Japanese themselves cheerfully handled the enormous paperwork

  • involved in the migration.”

  • "Cheerfully?"

  • How was Japanese internment cheerful?

  • They're like... “The Trail of Tears.

  • The Cherokee Nation was getting their 10,000 steps in.

  • It was great cardio.”

  • Now, for the better part of a century,

  • America passed laws to dehumanize and exclude Asians from American life.

  • But that changed in the 1960s.

  • Black America ushered in an era of progress

  • with the Civil Rights and the Voting Rights Act.

  • And during that time, another law rode that wave through Congress.

  • The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act signed by President Johnson.

  • For over four decades,

  • the immigration policy of the United States has been twisted

  • and distorted by the harsh injustice

  • of the national origins quota system.

  • Today, this system is abolished.”

  • This ended the racist quota system

  • and let in a lot of highly educated immigrants.

  • Immigrants like my parents

  • and the parents of a lot of people who work on this show.

  • Like, right here. This is Jeejung's family.

  • She's one of our animators. Right over here, yeah.

  • This dude right here, this is Apollo's dad, Filipino Shaft.

  • Yes. Apollo works in animation.

  • This is Prashanth's family, okay? Back in the '80s.

  • Look how crazy this photo is.

  • White House, brown family, no fence.

  • It's a different America.

  • Okay?

  • We went from 900,000 Asian Americans before this law

  • to over 19 million today.

  • Yeah, we are all children of this one piece of legislation.

  • If it weren't for the 1965 act,

  • this studio would be a laser tag arena.

  • And there are also a lot of people who probably wish that was the case.

  • The immigration system must put

  • the needs of American workers and families first.

  • If Democrats were ever to seize power,

  • they would open the floodgates

  • to unvetted, uncontrolled migration

  • at levels you have never seen before.

  • You think you have it bad now?

  • You would never have seen anything like what they want to do.

  • Okay, I can't tell if he's being racist or introducing Cirque du Soleil.

  • He's like, “They want to do something...

  • you've never seen before.”

  • Right, okay. I wanna see that.

  • Now, this kind of all-caps racism

  • is driving more Asian Americans away from the Republican party,

  • but that hasn't stopped them from trying to win us back.

  • Do you guys remember that bizarre campaign ad

  • that DJT made to try to get the Indian vote?

  • Yeah, it was about 35 years ago in 2016.

  • I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi.

  • We love the Hindus.

  • We love India.

  • “I'm Donald Trump, and I approve this message.”

  • We love the Hindus.

  • That sounds like something your white grandfather says

  • when he meets someone from Thailand.

  • He's like, “Oh, you're from Bangkok? We love the Hindus!”

  • You're like, “Grandpa, don't do that.”

  • Now, I know I've played that cough syrup nightmare before,

  • but I had to because it marked the start of a long love fest

  • between Narendra Modi and Donald Trump,

  • and that love fest climaxed this past September in Houston, Texas.

  • Tens of thousands of Indian Americans packed into a Houston stadium Sunday

  • for an event called, get this, “Howdy Modi!”

  • -“Howdy Modi!” -“Howdy Modi!

  • In Houston with President Trump.

  • Both of them patting each other on the back

  • saying what great leaders they are,

  • what great friends they are.”

  • A very Texas welcome to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

  • Yeah, a Trump rally,

  • in Texas,

  • full of Indians.

  • Such a weird combination.

  • Like, think about it.

  • You have gun nuts and vegetarians.

  • Like, one side of the stadium is like, “We shouldn't put animals in cages.”

  • And the other side of the stadium is like, “You're right.

  • We should only put kids in cages.”

  • Look, when I heard about this, I knew I had to be there.

  • It's fucking nuts, but they wouldn't let me in

  • because they didn't like some of the jokes I've made about Modi on this show,

  • so I got kicked out.

  • And you know what's fucked up?

  • While they kept me outside,

  • they played this clip inside on the jumbotron.

  • This is home. This is us.

  • We're entrepreneurs and comedians.”

  • They're like, “We're entrepreneurs. We're comedians.

  • We're traitors to the motherland.”

  • Now, since I was stuck outside, I figured, why not talk to the community,

  • see what's going on.

  • I wanted to know

  • if supporting Modi translates to supporting his orange brother.

  • -Did you guys vote for Trump in 2016? -Yes, I was very active,

  • -Okay. -and I'll be active in 2020 as well.

  • If you're a supporter of India, Prime Minister Modi, the BJP,

  • you can only be with President Trump.

  • Are you a big supporter of Donald Trump?

  • No.

  • I'm a sometimes Trump guy.

  • I'm looking for a Democrat.

  • -You didn't know that he was opening? -No.

  • Oh dude, it's the Jay-Z and Beyoncé of ethno-nationalism.

  • That's okay.

  • Who's Beyoncé in this situation?

  • The hot bod?

  • -Who? Modi? -Yeah.

  • -Fifty-six? -Yes.

  • -No he doesn't have a--

  • He doesn't have a 56-inch chest. He would be a linebacker in the NFL, man.

  • Dude, he wouldn't stop talking about Modi's chest.

  • It goes on for three more minutes.

  • If he ever meets Narendra Modi, Modi's gonna be like,

  • Hey, eyes up here.

  • I have a brain, you know.”

  • Being at the Howdy Modi rally was such a trip.

  • But while I was there, it really hit me.

  • Asian Americans are becoming a powerful political force.

  • And it's a force that will not hesitate to get up in your face.

  • -Do you feel like we've arrived now? -We have. I think we have.

  • I see the change coming--

  • Oh, come on.

  • Okay.

  • I am.

  • Come on, we're brothers.

  • Okay.

  • One, two...”

  • Yeah.

  • Look, honestly,

  • I wanted that picture as much as he did, because look, this is a true story.

  • My family knows him!

  • That guy is friends with my parents.

  • I didn't know he was gonna be at Howdy Modi, but I saw him again last week.

  • He came over to our house for Thanksgiving dinner in Sacramento.

  • That's how tight-knit our community is.

  • It made me realize two things.

  • Our community is big enough to fill up a football stadium,

  • but we also all know each other.

  • There are 19 million Asians in this country,

  • but only nine WhatsApp threads.

  • Dude, we are one group chat away from changing history.

  • That's why we can't keep waiting for politicians to speak to us.

  • If we do, we'll never be listened to.

  • We'll only be pandered to and personally,

  • I don't want to see Pete Buttigieg eating a samosa in Jackson Heights

  • on an elephant. You don't gotta do all that, man.

  • Just focus on the issues we care about.

  • And maybe...

  • just let in one of our cousins.

All right, let's get into it.

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