David Kim registered to vote as a Republican, despite their extremist anti-choice platform and he remained a Republican for five years.
To make matters worse, David Kim lied, and told the Stonewall Democratic Club in February 2022 that he was never a Republican, when asked if he was ever a member of another political party. While he acknowledged that he was previously a Green Party member for one year, he hid the fact that he was a Republican for five years in order to win their votes.
That’s dishonest.
He changed his party registration three times in less than one year, finally registering as a Democrat as he prepared to run for Congress in CD-34 – which is only 9% Republican.
Then, after David Kim registered as a Democrat, he campaigned for Congress with Qanon and MAGA Republican support (see next section).
And now David Kim is running for Congress again. But where does he stand? He sided with Trump and opposed broad sanctions against Russia after their brutal invasion of Ukraine. And he proposed a new tax that hurts low-income and working families.
David Kim switched political parties four times. He can’t be trusted to stand for ANYTHING.
David Kim will do or say anything to advance his political ambitions. This includes selling out the progressive values of the people of the 34th Congressional District by soliciting and accepting the endorsement from a vocal anti-vaxxer, right wing, MAGA, QAnon candidate Joanne Wright.
In 2020, he actively accepted the support of a Republican candidate, Joanne Wright, an active MAGA QAnon believer, who claimed COVID-19 and vaccines were both conspiracy theories. Kim went so far as to feature her support on his website, calling her an “amazing” person, and thanking her for running, just days after the LA Times ran an article about her extremist beliefs. He even went so far as to pay $14,800 to include her as one of the top individuals supporting his campaign in his candidate statement and voter guide information.
Later, when it was no longer politically convenient, he deleted her from his website without issuing any clarification or apology.
Any real, principled, progressive would not hesitate to condemn such virulent ideologies and believers that Joanne Wright represents.
David Kim’s only record is his willingness to praise a known MAGA, QAnon, Republican extremist in a desperate effort to get any votes he can, and then hide it when it’s no longer convenient for his political ambition.
How can he be trusted to fight for our progressive beliefs if they become no longer useful to his political goals in the future?
David Kim talks a lot about the importance of campaign finance reform and campaign transparency, but his actions don’t match his words. Consider his history:
David Kim got caught hiding $64,755 in political money
David Kim talks a lot about the importance of campaign finance reform and campaign transparency, but his actions don’t match his words. Consider his history:
Kim hid more than $64,755.79 that passed through his campaign, failing to report it until he was forced to by the Federal Elections commission. The Commission fined Kim after he refused to properly record large contributions and expenses. When confronted about this, Kim claimed that a staffer made a mistake and absolved himself by correcting it after the election was over, never addressing why he signed filing reports that were not accurate. (Source: Federal Elections Commission)
A real progressive would take our campaign finance and disclosure laws seriously. Voters deserve to know who is funding campaigns, how they are spending the money, and not be dismissed or blamed on a rogue staffer.
David Kim failed to disclose his occupation and sources of income, including stock transactions, investments and other financial holding.
Every candidate for Congress is required to file a Personal Financial disclosure form with the House Ethics Committee, so the public can see whether they vote to enrich themselves and if they have potential conflicts of interest.
In the race for the 34th Congressional District in 2020, every candidate filed required financial disclosure statements except for David Kim.David Kim did not file a personal financial disclosure form with the U.S. House Clerk for his first campaign for Congress until after he was called out on it. Hiding his occupation, sources of income, and potential conflicts of interest until May of 2022, well after the election was over. So, the question is: Why did David Kim not follow the law? Maybe because David is not who he claims to be.
David misled the public on his own income and occupation.
David continues to call himself an immigration attorney, even though his disclosures and previous interviews clearly show his background as a corporate entertainment industry lawyer.
In fact, Kim started his own firm, literally called “The Hollywood Lawyer” in 2014. In a 2016 profile from WeWork, Kim talked about his lifelong aspirations of being an actor, claiming that he opened his “Hollywood Lawyer” because, in his words.
"It’s time to open up my own shop and start an entertainment law practice. My acting career and this could be the way to get a bigger role on the big screen.’” (WeWork, “Side Hustle: Entertainment lawyer David Kim dreams of the spotlight,” June 27, 2016)
There is nothing inherently wrong with working for an entertainment company or pursuing one’s dreams, but for someone who claims to have such an interest in transparency and ethics – hiding income and your past is not something a real progressive would do.
Sources:
David proposed creating a new federal tax of 10% on everything – including food, gasoline, and healthcare. Kim’s tax will fall most heavily on the poor and those on fixed incomes, including seniors and disabled.
David Kim proposed funding his policy priorities through a new massive and highly regressive national VAT that would hit working families and the poor hardest.
A VAT is a new tax on all goods and services sold within a country, essentially functioning as a national sales tax of 10%.
1. Not only would Kim’s national sales tax exacerbate problems with inflation, making basic goods more expensive across the board, but this would hit working families and the poor hardest -- those David Kim claims to advocate for - since they spend a greater percentage of their incomes than rich people do.
2. That's why this policy is supported by right wing extremists like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and not by progressive champions. His policy platform hasn’t changed, yet he now is hiding how he would actually propose paying for any of his ideas. He has no clear funding proposal other than "increased savings and increased economic activity."
Voters deserve to know if he is disavowing his past support for regressive flat taxes, or if he still stands with right wing economists on his tax policy.
According to the Brookings Institute, in addition to David Kim, the most prominent supporters of a VAT are Republicans, such as senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, and others.
David Kim is running for Congress as a Democrat – but he advocates for dangerous positions that are so far out of touch with our community that he’s just not fit to represent us.
On February 24, David Kim announced his opposition to broad sanctions against Russia even after their brutal invasion and bombing of Ukraine began. Just two days earlier, the New York Times reported that Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson opposed the sanctions. (Sources: David Kim on Twitter, 2/24/2022 and New York Times, 2/22/2022)
Now more than ever, during these turbulent times, we need members of Congress who will stand up for democracy and human rights – not fringe candidates who side with Trump.
Sanctions are the nonviolent tool in diplomacy to resolve conflict. More importantly, innocent civilians are being murdered in this conflict, wishful thinking and inaction isn't the progressive answer, that is giving dictators like Donald Trump's best friend Putin a free pass.
