Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has asked for the media to stop repeating the racist nickname her former boss, Donald Trump, gave her in a screed against her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Ms Chao — who resigned her position shortly before the Capitol riot in 2021 — appeared on CNN this week and commented that she hopes media outlets will stop repeating the racist nickname Mr Trump used in his insult.
During the interview, correspondent Kaitlin Collins asked Ms Chao to respond to the insult but did not invoke the name in her question.
"Well I think it is very helpful if the media does not repeat that racist tweet. If it were the n-word, or any other word, the media would not repeat it. But the media continuously repeats his racist taunt. And so, he’s trying to get a rise out of us," Ms Chao said. "He says all sorts of outrageous things, and I don’t make a point of answering any one of them."
Ms Collins responded: "I made a point of not saying it there, I just wanted to give you the opportunity to respond."
Ms Chao immigrated to the US from Taiwan.
She was swept up in Mr Trump’s condemnation of her husband, which he poured out on his Truth Social platform early in December.
"Is McConnell approving of all these trillions of dollars worth of Democrat-sponsored bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the fake and highly destructive green new deal, and is willing to take the country down with him? In any event, either reason in unacceptable," Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He went on to claim that Mr McConnell "has a DEATH WISH," and that he "must immediately seek help and advice from his China loving wife" after which he made the racist remark about her name.
It wasn’t the first time Mr Trump had attacked Ms Chao. He called her "crazy" in August and suggest her family was working to "get rich on China."
Some Republican lawmakers condemned Mr Trump, asserting that racism is always wrong.
"It’s never, ever OK to be a racist," Senator Rick Scott told CNN during an interview. "I think you always have to be careful, you know, if you’re in the public eye … how you say things. You want to make sure you’re inclusive."
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House comms director during Mr Trump’s tenure, tweeted that he was "not even trying to hide the racism at this point," calling his comments "just despicable."
Another conservative pundit who once worked for Mr McConnell, Scott Jennings, told CNN that Mr Trump’s rant could double as "assassination instructions" against Mr McConnell. Mr Jennings called on "every Republican" to disavow Mr Trump.
