COVID-19 and Asian Americans: How Social Exclusion Shapes Partisan Attitudes

• In Event: Relevance, Quality, and Expedience: Political Science Responds to COVID-19: Identity and Responses to COVID-19

Abstract

By labeling the coronavirus as the “kung flu” or “Chinese virus,” President Trump’s rhetoric has brought anti-Asian American bias to the forefront. While recent work has explained the rise of negative Asian American sentiment, we further aim to address how ongoing social exclusion influences the partisan attitudes of Asian Americans themselves. Extending theories of social exclusion, we argue that Trump’s continued usage of targeted rhetoric toward Asian Americans pushes the racial group, of whom is largely ‘Independent’ or nonpartisan affiliated, towards holding more Democratic-related preferences. Using the COVID-19 Twitter dataset (over 3.3 million tweets a day), we use machine learning to trace how anti-Asian attitudes among Whites and Blacks have changed since the pandemic. Next, drawing on a nation-wide survey conducted weekly by the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group (n=12,907), we find that favorability toward the Democratic Party; favorability toward the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Joe Biden; and identification with the Democratic Party, has increased since Trump first made inflammatory remarks uniquely among Asian Americans, who have been subject to social exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whites, Blacks, and Latina/os, on the other hand, exhibited little change in these Democratic-related attitudes. Our findings suggest that experiences with social exclusion may further cement Asian Americans as Democrats, who are positioned to be consequential in the outcome of the 2020 election.

Authors

• Nathan Kar Ming Chan, University of California, Irvine

• Jae Yeon Kim, KDI School of Public Policy and Management

• Vivien Leung, Bucknell University