During the 2016 general elections, exit polls suggested that despite Hillary Clinton’s defeat to Donald Trump, Americans of Asian descent supported the former secretary of state by a 65 to 29 percent margin. In the aftermath of the election result, Asia Society decided to give Asian Americans a chance to give advice to the 45th president — on camera.
“We recently asked Asian Americans in New York to offer their advice to President Trump. Here’s what they had to say. the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Asian American voters made their preferences clear,” a statement issued by the Society stated.
During two days of filming, the participants — who traced their ancestry to several different Asian countries — discussed a wide variety of specific topics, from LGBT rights, tension in the South China Sea, and climate change. But there were also sentiments shared across several responses, such as a strong desire for President Trump to govern on behalf of all Americans, particularly immigrants and religious minorities. Though the interviews were filmed prior to the president’s inauguration, these issues have assumed a special relevance to the infancy of his presidency.
Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the United States in a global context. Across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, the Society provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future. Founded in 1956, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Washington, DC and Zurich.