House Democrats are up in arms after a GOP lawmaker suggested Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), the nation’s first Chinese-American congresswoman, is disloyal to the United States.

Rep. Lance Gooden, a third-term Texas Republican, suggested this week that Chu should be denied access to sensitive classified materials — and investigated — after she defended Dominic Ng, President Biden’s selection to lead U.S. trade interests in Asia, from accusations that Ng is also working on behalf of communist leaders in Beijing. 

“I question her either loyalty or competence,” Gooden told Fox News on Wednesday. “If she doesn’t realize what’s going on then she’s totally out of touch with one of her core constituencies.”

Chu issued a statement Thursday calling Gooden’s remarks “racist,” and her Democratic allies in the House are now rushing to Chu’s defense and demanding an apology from Gooden. 

“At a time when anti-Asian hate continues to threaten communities, it’s critical that we condemn these racist and xenophobic attacks immediately and hold our fellow colleagues accountable to rid our politics of such dangerous statements and hatred,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), head of the Democrats’ campaign arm, said Friday in a statement.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also blasted Gooden, suggesting the Texas Republican was disloyal himself for siding with the majority of House Republicans who had voted in 2021 to overturn the presidential election results in favor of President Trump.

“Lance Gooden’s slanderous accusation of disloyalty against Rep. Chu is dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic,” Jeffries said Thursday in a statement. “Congressman Gooden appears to sympathize with violent insurrectionists and spreads big lies to the American people, having voted not to certify the election of President Joe Biden. Look in the mirror, Lance. You have zero credibility.”

Gooden quickly responded by doubling down and accusing both Jeffries and Chu of disloyalty. 

“Rather than following facts that indicate the presence of Chinese espionage, Chu and Jeffries are playing the race card in a sick display of disloyalty to our nation,” Gooden said in an email.