Aug. 26, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The Daily Mail has incorrectly used a photo of Congresswoman Grace Meng and her family in an article about an unrelated Asian American family.
The tabloid published a story about an altercation between a white couple and an Asian American man and his family on Fire Island, Long Island, and improperly used a photo of Meng and her family.
The Asian-American man who should have been in the photo, Michael Kim, was the subject of the article about an argument he had with a white couple.
Kim, as reported by the Daily Mail, said he was the victim of racism when a white man made racially-charged statements like “This isn’t China.” The incident took place after Kim scolded his sons for fighting and the white couple intervened.
Kim then filmed the couple and can be heard repeatedly saying “Please leave me alone, you are harassing me” in the video he posted to TikTok and twitter.
Meng retweeted Kim’s video and commented on the incident on Twitter on Aug. 22.
“So ? sick of constantly being questioned of where we’re from or why we’re here,” Meng wrote. “Secret’s out: they’re letting Asians and other POC onto Fire Island and other nice places too. Disgusting smirk on her face like she thinks she’s more American than this family.”
The Daily Mail then wrote about the incident yesterday.
Meng then screenshotted that article, which was published with her photo, and tweeted “Dude- wrong Asian American family.”
Dude- wrong Asian American family. Please change your picture. @MailOnline @DailyMailUK https://t.co/JOFtXtvRWp pic.twitter.com/S6ahxIOiVJ
— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) August 26, 2021
Several elected officials and fellow Asian Americans replied to Meng’s tweet with shock and disgust. Many called it “unfathomable” or “unbelievable.”
“This is reprehensible!!” former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tweeted. “So sorry that you and your family are on receiving end of such irresponsible reporting Congresswoman.”
Another Twitter user commented on the absurdity of mistaking completely different Asian people.
“Wow! Do we all look alike?” the Asian American woman, Tina Choi, replied.
The publication has since removed Meng’s photo from the article.
One Comment
Who cares.