The AAPI Victory Fund has issued a strong warning about the escalating xenophobic rhetoric and targeted attacks against Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) and immigrant-origin candidates and elected officials across the United States.

“We are deeply appalled by the increasing wave of racist, xenophobic, and anti-Muslim attacks aimed at AA&NHPI and other immigrant-background candidates in cities across America—from Boston to Cincinnati to San Antonio to New York. These attacks are not isolated; they are part of a larger, disturbing pattern of racialized political violence and fear-mongering that is accelerating across our nation,” AAPI Victory Fund stated on July 9.

The statement highlighted that these attacks are part of a broader trend that includes ICE raids disproportionately affecting communities of color, the passage of anti-immigrant legislation at the state level, and coordinated online hate campaigns. According to the Fund, this “political and cultural assault” is not coincidental but part of a deliberate strategy to divide immigrant and marginalized communities.

“We stand with our AA&NHPI elected leaders and candidates in condemning anti-immigrant anti-Muslim rhetoric,” said Chairman and Founder of the AAPI Victory Fund, Shekar Narasimhan. “It feeds the narrative that we are the ‘other’ and we will not accept that today, tomorrow, or ever.”

The Fund pointed to the recent wave of vitriolic attacks on several prominent candidates and officials, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. These attacks, the statement noted, have questioned the individuals’ religion, loyalty, and identity—tactics that the Fund described as both “shameful and dangerous.”

“There is no religious litmus test for public service in America,” added Board Member and Co-Founder of AAPI Victory Fund, Dilawar Syed. “The attacks against Zohran Mamdani are rooted in suspicion and bigotry toward Muslim Americans, especially those who choose to serve. It is shameful and even more disturbing when political and business leaders give oxygen to such rhetoric. We won’t let this stand. We are stronger when we challenge ideas—not someone’s race, religion, or identity.”

The statement specifically condemned recent attacks on Mamdani by a high-profile venture capitalist, calling out the “broader malaise of anti-Muslim and racial suspicion” seeping into public discourse, including in business communities such as Silicon Valley. Of equal concern, the Fund added, is the silence from senior Democratic leaders in New York and nationwide, who have yet to respond publicly and forcefully to the attacks.

“These attacks are happening in the same climate that has seen violent political incidents like the recent assassination of lawmakers in Minnesota– where extremist rhetoric led to real-world harm. The path from words to violence is short and we must act now to stop it,” the statement continued. “There is no place in American democracy for hate, whether antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Black racism, or bigotry against any marginalized community. We call on all leaders, across party lines and industry, to speak forcefully, unequivocally, and immediately.”

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