US presidential elections 2016: Hillary Clinton garners support of Asian-American group

Hillary Clinton has garnered support of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community which includes Indian-Americans, as she heads to California with an aim to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination next week.

California comprises of a large Asian-American population. It has the largest Indian-American population outside the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. “Asian Americans’ growing influence and political power is poised to play a major role in this crucial election.  

Secretary Clinton has meaningfully engaged with our community and she has strongly advocated for issues of importance to AAPI families, ranging from environmental justice to gun control,” Dilawar Syed, co-founder and vice chairman of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Victory Fund said.

“We repudiate the racial, ethnic and religious prejudices espoused by the presumptive Republican nominee. By mobilising the AAPI electorate across the state on June 7, we will ensure Secretary Clinton’s victory in California,” he said.

“Presidential candidates must do more than pay lip service to get the support of the AAPI community,” Shekar Narasimhan, chairman of AAPI Victory Fund said in a release. He added the Victory Fund will also ensure that Clinton follows her words when she is elected as the next US President.

Clinton’s campaign is the first to include an AAPI outreach director to specifically target our community and she has also shown her support for the community by both hosting and attending events in Washington and Los Angeles, Tung Nguyen, co-founder of AAPI Victory Fund said.

He said this unprecedented level of outreach will continue to resonate with the community, especially on shared policies and priorities. 

Clinton has four days to press her case in the nation’s most populous state, where she is desperate to secure a symbolic victory and take Bernie Sanders’ last remaining argument for staying in the US presidential elections 2016 race off the table.