LAS VEGAS (KTNV) – There are people who are offended, upset and frustrated by comments from a local politician. A Nye County commissioner recently claimed Nevada’s first lady benefited from the pandemic because she had a family in China.
Jia Mei Wang couldn’t believe her ears when she heard Nye County Commissioner Donna Cox make remarks about Nevada First Lady Kathy Sisolak.
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“I am very angry because I know this is not true.”
At a meeting earlier this month, Commissioner Cox said:
“She’s Chinese. And you put two and two together. They actually said that her family owns a company in China that makes a lot of money on the subject.”
It was part of a wider discussion of Governor Steve Sisolak’s mask mandate. Wang says she respects different political opinions, but believes the commissioner’s claims are simply not true.
“They say. Who are you? Do you have evidence or evidence to spread such rumors?” She said.
Kathy Sisolak was born in Nevada. Ely, specifically. She co-founded a financial advisory firm in the valley, whose public clients are mostly from the state.
“It is not true that she would benefit from all of this. She has her own business and has been for a long time, ”said Wang.
Wang says when she and others with the Nevada Chinese Association donated masks and PPE to local hospitals at the start of the pandemic, Kathy Sisolak helped raise funds and spread the word about her efforts. Kathy didn’t play a role in purchasing, she says, as she has no contacts in China. Wang finds the claims of greed for profit ridiculous and believes this feeds the notion that members of the AAPI community are eternal foreigners.
“People shouldn’t categorize people because you came earlier and me later and you make comments about different countries and races and that’s just wrong.”
Wang says the comments are among someone who holds an elected office and wants to see an apology.
“You have nothing to prove that you are right, so you can’t spread rumors. You are not a housewife. You are an elected officer, ”she said.
We asked Commissioner Cox for an answer by phone and email, but received no response by the deadline. Governor Sisolak, various AAPI groups, and the Nevada Senate Republicans have all condemned her statements.
