“It empowers people who would be predisposed to doing that kind of thing anyway,” said Berg, a high school English teacher in Denver. “And it makes it acceptable to be openly, increasingly discriminating.”

Some worry the frequency of Trump’s racially offensive remarks makes them easier to shrug off, a concern that could weigh on an Asian-American voting group that is only growing in power.

The number of Asian-Americans of voting age has more than doubled in the past two decades, leaping from 4.3 million in 1998 to 11.1 million in 2018 according to the US Census Bureau. Most of those new voters lean Democratic.

By 2016, some Asian ethnic groups that had leaned Republican shifted into the Democratic camp, said Natalie Masuoka, an associate professor of political science and Asian-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. A larger share of Asian-American Republicans voted for John McCain in 2008 than for Trump in 2016.

A Pew Research Centre survey said 53 per cent of Asian-American registered voters in 1998 identified with the Democratic Party. That figure rose to 65 per cent in 2017.

“They are adding more and more new voters to the electorate,” Masuoka said. “Alongside Latino immigrants, they’re important for candidates to mobilise.”

Asian-American voters also could become a key factor in swing states. In Nevada, Asians make up 5 per cent of registered voters and 9 per cent of the eligible voting population. They comprise 5 per cent of registered voters in Virginia and are 6 per cent of the eligible voting population.

The Republican Party, meanwhile, remains appealing to Asian Americans who are strongly anti-communist, as many are in Vietnamese communities. Some data also suggests that a large proportion of Filipinos and wealthy, higher-educated Chinese Americans are more likely to go Republican, Masuoka said. There is no solid answer for why, but religion is one often cited reason, she added.

Trump mocks disabled reporter by mimicking his condition at campaign rally

But it may be hard for some to look past Trump’s reported words.

“He’s willing to use Asian stereotypes, Asian accents in his public speeches,” Masuoka said. “In that way … the way Americans are talking about race is now shifting possibly back to what historically was effective before the civil rights revolution” – explicit and sometimes offensive talk about race.

In the past, such comments have led to outrage.

In 1995, then-New York Senator Alfonse D’Amato used a faux Japanese accent when discussing O.J. Simpson trial Judge Lance Ito, who is Japanese-American, in a radio interview. The Republican senator’s apology was criticised at the time by the Asian-American Defence and Education Legal Fund.

“It was a time where even though we were very offended by the remarks, we thought it might make a difference to ask for an apology. But with President Trump, one doesn’t expect that,” said Margaret Fung, the group’s executive director. “That’s part of the way he speaks, the way he acts which is offensive. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get the kind of attention that maybe it should.”

Officials for Trump’s re-election campaign defended his record with Asian-Americans.

“The Asian-American community has never been stronger than under President Trump’s leadership,” campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. “Millions of Asian-Americans have secured access to the strongest economy in modern history, with the Asian-American unemployment rate hitting a record low under the leadership of President Trump.”

‘We want deal!’: Trump fakes Asian accent to mock Chinese and Japanese businessmen

A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump supporters like Farhana Shah, of the Arizona Republican Party Asian-American Coalition, however, say his personality is irrelevant. She praised Trump for creating jobs, passing a tax cut and keeping the country safe. Shah, who emigrated from Bangladesh in 2006 and is self-conscious at times about her own accent, also disagrees that his reported words were racist or done out of cruelty.

“He has a humorous attitude. He has a funny way of expressing things,” Shah said. “Did he harm any political negotiations? Did the leaders react to that? If not, then it didn’t do any big harm. So why should I get offended?”

Shah has found herself in debates with those who question her support for Trump.

“President Trump might not speak very posh, but he is trying to resolve these problems,” she said.