Peter Yu is one of the six Republican candidates running for Colorado’s 4th congressional district, a traditionally strong red district which has been represented since 2015 by Rep. Ken Buck. (A disenchanted Buck announced his retirement earlier this year.)
Local ABC TV news journalist Kyle Clark, who won national praise for moderating the Republican 4th congressional district debate, recently conducted a one-on-one interview with Yu, who supports Donald Trump for president.
Clark noted that Trump “has a well documented history of anti-Asian racism,” and “has mocked Asian accents at campaign events,” and then asked Yu: “Why do you respect a man who doesn’t respect you?”
NEW: CO-4 GOP candidate Peter Yu says he supports Donald Trump despite Trump’s well-documented history of anti-Asian racism because Trump is a “good person” who “sometimes talks before he thinks.” #copolitics pic.twitter.com/bjfUVEqCvH
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) June 12, 2024
Yu replied: “Because I don’t think those are personal attacks. I don’t think that’s his true nature, of who he is.”
Clark asked: “Do you think he’s pretending to be racist?”
Yu replied: “I don’t think he’s pretending to be racist. I just think he’s also making statements that he…I think he talks before he thinks.” Yu added: “If I look at Donald Trump’s history of who he is as a person, I feel he is a very strong humanitarian.”
As seen in the video below, Clark also noted that during a previous campaign, Yu said that racism is a lie, which Yu now acknowledges is false. Clark wrote: “I noted that his statement gives cover to racists and he clarified to say he believes systemic racism, if it exists, ‘is not holding people back.’”
In his 2021 Senate campaign, Yu said that racism is a lie. He acknowledges today that is false. I noted that his statement gives cover to racists and he clarified to say he believes systemic racism, if it exists, “is not holding people back.” pic.twitter.com/VSy25CVkjy
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) June 12, 2024
Note: Trump has endorsed Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) who earlier this year announced a switch from Colorado’s 3rd congressional district, which she currently represents, to the 4th district to run for Buck’s seat.
The full interview between Clark and Yu is below.