Biden blasted for attacking ally and comparing Japan to Russia and China: ‘Not something diplomatic to say’

President Joe Biden lumped in longtime ally Japan with Russia and China, denouncing them as “xenophobic,” which drew widespread outrage.

Speaking at a campaign fundraiser on Wednesday that marked Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Biden credited the United States’s economic power to immigrants, using China, Russia, and Japan as a contrast.

“Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because they’re xenophobic,” he said, according to Reuters. “They don’t want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong.”