Vietnamese biggest pro-Trump group among Asian Americans

According to a July 4 - September 10 survey of 1,569 Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Filipino American registered voters across the U.S., 48 percent of 264 Vietnamese wanted Trump to be the next president, while just 36 percent said they would vote for Biden.

With less than two months until the presidential election, this makes Vietnamese Americans the biggest Asian group that supports Trump.

The survey findings were released Tuesday by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, Asian and Pacific, Islander American Vote (APIAVote) and AAPI Data.

They showed a majority of Asian Americans, or 54 percent, planned to vote for Biden compared to just 30 percent Trump.

Indian Americans are the most inclined to vote for Biden among all Asian American groups at 65 percent, the survey found.

Around 14 percent of Asian American registered voters remained undecided about their presidential vote choice.

Majorities of Asian American registered voters also said they will support Democratic over Republican candidates in House and Senate races and again, the exception to this trend of Democratic support were Vietnamese American voters, who on the whole are more likely to support Republican candidates for House and Senate than Democratic candidates.

For the House, 45 percent of Vietnamese Americans said they prefer Republican candidates while 32 percent chose Democrats. The corresponding proportions for the Senate were 56 percent for Republican and 23 percent for Democratic candidates.

Compared to previous elections, 54 percent of the Asian American registered voters said they were more enthusiastic about voting this time.

The Asian Americans also expressed some concerns about the November election being free and fair.

Almost half said they worry about the possibility of election interference. An equal number were worried about the health and safety implications of voting in-person at the polls over the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Perhaps as a consequence, most Asian American registered voters said they prefer to vote by mail or by absentee ballot, compared to just 26 percent who wanted to vote in-person on election day.

Karthik Ramakrishnan, professor of public policy founder and director of AAPI Data, said: "Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the country and we’ve seen voters make an impact at the polls. This group saw a record high level of midterm election turnout in 2018."

Asian Americans showcase a wide diversity in terms of national origin, geographic region, religion, and English-language proficiency. They also demonstrate cohesion on healthcare, immigration, the environment, guns and education. Asian Americans favor a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, stronger environmental protections, gun control, and affirmative action.

They are likely to believe that the Democrats handle most issues better than the Republicans, with the exception of taxes and "jobs and the economy," the survey found.

"These new data demonstrate that, despite considerable diversity by ethnicity, the Asian American community is largely united when it comes to support for the social safety net, environmental protection, and gun control," Janelle Wong, senior researcher at AAPI Data noted.

"Organizations working on these issues need to make sure they include Asian Americans in their outreach," she said.