Georgia Gwinnett College Professor On being A Virtual RNC Delegate
Georgia Gwinnett College Professor Fang Zhou was elected to serve as a delegate at the Republican National Convention this week, representing Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
Courtesy of Fang Zhou
The 2020 Republican National Convention is underway in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Republican party delegates select the party’s nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 presidential election. This year President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will represent the Republican party in the November election.
Georgia Gwinnett College Professor Fang Zhou was elected to serve as a delegate at the Republican National Convention this week, representing Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
Zhou, a Chinese immigrant, is not without some controversy.
His stance on undocumented immigration is considered by some as inflammatory and out of touch.
Zhou said he will not let that get in the way of his main goal to recruit Asian donors — who he says are key in the presidential election — for the Trump campaign.
“The National Republican party has to understand Georgia is a battleground state. Georgia is going to be extremely competitive,” he said. “I am honored in the sense that the Georgia Republican Party understands the Asian voters, although a small demographic group, are going to be oftentimes in a very close election, could be the decisive voters. Or a very close margin victory in a very very close election. I am honored they understand this demographic”.
Zhou explained why he is in Atlanta and not in Charlotte. He said he does miss being physically at the convention and misses seeing and physically experiencing many parts of the process.
“This is my first time as a delegate. The disappointing aspect is not having the opportunity to be on the convention floor and not have the opportunity to network with delegates with other states,” he said. “They’re doing the best they can to engage the delegates with the speakers. But it is not the same.”
The conversation turned to undocumented immigration.
Zhou has been an outspoken critic of undocumented immigration into the United States. Zhou says he came to America legally.
“Illegal immigration is a personal attack on legal immigrates like me. ” Zhou further explained his position, “A student who studied hard and got an A on a test. And a student who cheated and stole the answer key to have the exact same answers. Are they the same? Should the student who intentionally cheated be allowed to keep the same test grades?” Zhou added, ” Illegal immigration is a personal attack on me and for Chinese legal immigrates, perhaps this is the most important issue we care about. ”
The Republican Convention runs through Thursday.
WABE’s Maria White Tillman contributed to this report.
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