• Judy Chu criticized Lance Gooden after he seemingly questioned her "loyalty" to the US on Fox News.
  • Gooden called out Chu after she blasted GOP attempts to investigate Biden economic appointee Dominic Ng.
  • Chu responded to Gooden, describing his remarks regarding her allegiance to the US as "racist."

Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, on Thursday blasted Texas GOP Rep. Lance Gooden over recent statements that he made where he seemingly questioned her loyalty to the United States.

During a Wednesday interview on Fox News, the third-term Gooden suggested that the California Democrat, who has served in the House since 2009, should be barred from accessing sensitive classified materials over her defense of Dominic Ng — the chairman and chief executive of the California-based East West Bank and President Joe Biden's appointee to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council.

Several Republicans, including Gooden, have said that Ng needs to be investigated by the FBI after a Daily Caller investigative article was published alleging the banker had ties to a Chinese Communist Party front group.

Gooden, while on the Fox News program "Jesse Watters Primetime," rebuked Chu, calling her "out of touch."

"I question her either loyalty or competence," he said during the interview. "If she doesn't realize what's going on then she's totally out of touch with one of her core constituencies."

Earlier this month, Chu, the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, released a joint statement with Reps. Ted Lieu and Mark Takano of California and Rep. Grace Meng of New York that condemned the GOP move.

Gooden while on Fox News criticized Chu for issuing the statement, while also accusing her of being the "ringleader" behind the effort.

"I think she has drug along the other Chinese American members to sign this letter. But I do think she's the ringleader," Gooden said. "I'm really disappointed and shocked that someone like Judy Chu would have a security clearance and be entitled to confidential intelligence briefings until this is figured out."

Chu and top Democratic lawmakers quickly slammed Gooden over his comments.

"Rep. Gooden's comments on Fox News questioning my loyalty to the USA is absolutely outrageous," Chu said in a statement. "It is based on false information spread by an extreme, right-wing website. Furthermore, it is racist. I very much doubt that he would be spreading these lies were I not of Chinese American descent."

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York also zeroed in on Gooden, needling him over his actions after the 2020 presidential election, when then-President Donald Trump sought to overturn now-President Joe Biden's electoral victory. In January 2021, Gooden voted against the certification of electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the 2020 election. Biden narrowly won both states over Trump, flipping them into the Democratic column, a point of contention for many Republicans who questioned the integrity of the results despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

"Lance Gooden's slanderous accusation of disloyalty against Rep. Chu is dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic," Jeffries said in a statement. "Congressman Gooden appears to sympathize with violent insurrectionists and spreads big lies to the American people, having voted not to certify the election of President Joe Biden."

"Look in the mirror, Lance. You have zero credibility," he added.

Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on Friday excoriated Gooden over his comments.

"At a time when anti-Asian hate continues to threaten communities, it's critical that we condemn these racist and xenophobic attacks immediately and hold our fellow colleagues accountable to rid our politics of such dangerous statements and hatred," she said in a statement.

And Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a 2024 Senate candidate and former Intelligence Committee chairman who last month was removed from the panel by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, also decried Gooden's comments.

"Questioning @RepJudyChu's loyalty to the United States is xenophobic and racist," Schiff tweeted. "Shame on you, @LanceGooden. And on @FoxNews for airing such hate. We cannot allow anti-Asian bigotry to go without condemnation."

Lance Gooden
Rep. Gooden accused Democrats of bringing up race after his criticism of Rep. Chu.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

All eyes on China

Gooden hit back at the Democratic charges, accusing Chu and Jeffries of inserting race into the discussion.

"Rather than following facts that indicate the presence of Chinese espionage, Chu and Jeffries are playing the race card in a sick display of disloyalty to our nation," Gooden remarked in an email.

During his Fox News interview, Gooden also voiced his frustration over the Democratic response to the GOP request for a probe into Ng.

"We're standing up to communist China and these Democrats' first reaction is to come to their defense and call us all racists," Gooden said at the time.

The jockeying among both parties comes as many lawmakers are pushing for a firm line against China, especially after a spy balloon operated by the Chinese traversed the interior of the United States before being taken down over the Atlantic Ocean.

While Biden and top military officials in his administration were closely monitoring the balloon, with the president even remarking that he sought to take down the object shortly after he found out about its existence, the commander-in-chief was ultimately advised that it would be safer to shoot down the balloon over water.

Many Republican lawmakers immediately launched a wave of criticism against Biden, stating that the balloon should have immediately been taken down.

But Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the party's 2012 presidential nominee, defended the administration's stance while speaking with CNN earlier this month after a congressional briefing on the matter.

"I believe that the administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies, acted skillfully and with care," he told the network. "At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive."