Romneyâs Touts His âAsian Binderâ
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised in a speech before a group of Asian-AmericanÂ veteransÂ that he will use "binders of Asians" to hire the next White House sushi chef. Romney is a well-known fan of the Japanese raw seafood delicacy, having done many business deals in Japan while leading private equity firm Bain Capital.Â  In a VFW hall in Dayton, OH RomneyÂ explainedÂ to the audience that his love of sushi connects him culturally to Asia and he'll keep that connection going as president: "My first act on day one will be to repeal Obamacare." "My first act on day two will be to hire the White House's first full time sushi chef. How about that? Isn't that great? Job creation for Asian-Americans. Isn't that fantastic?" "I'll take out my big yellow binder and find just the right Asian to make my sushi every day. Will he be Japanese? Will he be Korean? Chinese? Maybe he'll be Malaysian. You never know. Everybody gets a fair shot." Romney says that if the first Asian does really, really well he may hire a second Asian to cook sir-fry for him. "I like my rice crispy and my soy sauce highly salty. Do any of you in the room have sons looking for work? Send them my way. I'll put them in the binder. I need good ethnic help." Romney first introduced the concept of "binders" for groups of people in Tuesday's presidential debate, when he claimed he was not aÂ misogynistÂ because he used "binders full of women" in his recruitment practices as governor. The remark has beenÂ criticizedÂ as sexist and outdated.  Â