- Donald Trump made xenophobic remarks about his Cabinet secretary Elaine Chao, a new book reports.
- His comments came during an interview with the authors of "This Will Not Pass."
- Since leaving office, Trump has continued to tear into Mitch McConnell, who is Chao's husband.
Former President Donald Trump repeated xenophobic attacks suggesting his former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao was compromised by ties to China during an interview with two New York Times reporters.
Trump made the comments during a mid-April 2021 interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort, during which he sharply criticized Chao and her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"Not content merely to insult McConnell as a legislative leader and tactician, Trump attacked the Kentucky senator's family in racist language, smearing a woman who had served in his Cabinet for all but two of the final weeks of his presidency," Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns wrote in "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future," which comes out on Tuesday.
Trump, speaking of Chao, told the authors she is "not an innocent babe in the woods." Chao has been a top GOP official for decades. She previously served in the Reagan and both Bush administrations, including as George W. Bush's Labor secretary.
Since the 2020 election, Trump has repeatedly torn into McConnell for not supporting his election lies.
Spokespeople for Chao, McConnell, and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
Chao was born in Taiwan and emigrated to the US when she was a child. Her family still owns a New York-based shipping company that has benefited from close US-China ties, The New York Times previously reported.
Trump suggested that these ties compromised Chao, who served in his Cabinet until she resigned in the wake of the Capitol insurrection.
"Just ask China — ask China whether she is or not," Trump told the authors, in what they describe as, "alluding to online conspiracy theories."
McConnell and Chao are no stranger to these attacks. Shortly after the election, Trump claimed McConnell was "too busy working on deals with China for his wife."
West Virginia Senate hopeful Don Blankenship went even further in 2018, releasing an entire ad that attacked McConnell for having a father-in-law that is "a wealthy Chinaperson." Blankenship is best remembered for trying to give McConnell the moniker "Cocaine Mitch," a nickname the top Senate Republican later enthusiastically embraced.
Trump raised further doubts about whether China is committing human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the same interview with Martin and Burns. The Biden administration was so outraged by China's conduct that it contributed to the US' diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.