Two Republican congresswomen have withdrawn their endorsements for candidate Sery Kim after she said she doesn’t want Chinese immigrants in the U.S., CNN reports. Kim is running to be the representative for Texas’ 6th congressional district, and in a forum on Wednesday she said Chinese immigrants “steal our intellectual property” and “give us coronavirus.” “They don’t hold themselves accountable... I can say that because I’m Korean,” she said. California Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel said in a statement, “She has not publicly shown remorse, and her words were contrary to what we stand for... We cannot in good conscience continue to support her candidacy.”

Kim told CNN that her comments were referring “the Communist Party of China, and were not directed at Asian Americans, especially Chinese immigrants fleeing this oppressive regime.” She claimed that Anti-asian violence had not increased recently, despite a study last month proving that anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 145 percent in the last year.