Donald Trump received what some are calling a hero’s welcome in Falls Church, Virginia, on Monday. Despite the area’s well-known liberal tendencies, the Vietnamese community, which tends to be among the most Republican-leaning Asian Americans, has a strong aversion to socialist politics.
This community’s vote is crucial, if the former president is to have a shot at winning Virginia.
During his visit, Trump appeared alongside Senate candidate Hung Cao at the Truong Tien restaurant. There, he ordered royal cuisine dishes to go and left a generous tip before departing.
As The Washington Post reports:
“I’m going to buy something beautiful,” Trump said to those inside the restaurant. “I don’t know what it is.”
Among other dishes, Trump ordered banh khoai, a trio of rice flour shells stuffed with shrimp, mung bean sprouts and more, which are wrapped in lettuce leaves and served in a taco tray, according to Toan Ngo, a business consultant to Truong Tien. Trump also requested bun thit nuong, a cold vermicelli dish topped with grilled pork and fresh herbs, as well as “rice with seven dishes,” a sampler that shows off chef and owner Thanh Huong Thi Truong’s facility with imperial cooking.
Trump visits Truong Tien Vietnamese Restaurant at the Eden Center in Falls Church, Virginia pic.twitter.com/BQOzCG2oNm
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) August 26, 2024
Trump, according to his campaign, ordered all the dishes to go. The campaign did not respond to a question about what Trump thought of the food. The former president’s diet tends to lean more American than Vietnamese: “On Trump Force One there were four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke,” a pair of top aides, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, wrote in their book “Let Trump Be Trump.”
Trump’s appearance at Truong Tien was arranged in part by Can Nguyen, a Republican activist and an adjunct professor at George Mason University, said Alan Frank, senior vice president of the Eden Center. Nguyen could not be reached for comment.
Last Tuesday, the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research (IPOR) at Roanoke College released a poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris holding onto a slim three-point lead over Trump, with 47% of Virginians supporting her compared to 44% for the former president.
Meanwhile, in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Hung Cao is trailing the Democratic incumbent, Tim Kaine, by 11 points.
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