There have been plenty of critics of President Donald Trump since he took office and Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu of California is right up there. Lieu has gained a lot of attention from all sides because of his aggressive responses to Trump on Twitter, but he says it's all about preserving democracy for America. CGTN's May Lee had a chance to sit down with Representative Lieu to talk about what's at stake in the midterms.  

MAY LEE CGTN REPORTER "Asian American vote, it's becoming much more important now. Because Asians are the fastest growing voting block in the US. A lot of people don't know that. So what do you think within that community and their willingness to vote and the way in which they are looking at politics?"

REPRESENTATIVE TED LIEU CA 33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT "We're seeing huge enthusiasm jumps from 2014 to now in terms of Asian Pacific Islander participation and in America, in a democracy, if you don't vote, then sometimes government passes you by and Asian Pacific Americans certainly realize that."

MAY LEE CGTN REPORTER "And you're seeing that in the numbers, a recent survey showing that there's more enthusiasm. 48% of Asians surveyed say they're more enthusiastic about voting this year versus 28% back in 2014. So it seems there's more awareness within the community. What issues are they looking at that's creating this awareness?"

REPRESENTATIVE TED LIEU CA 33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT "If you look at legal immigration, Asian Americans are actually the largest part of legal immigration and Donald Trump's very divisive, xenophobic, hateful policies and rhetoric have really turned off a lot of Asian Americans. Donald Trump wants to get rid of family based immigration. He calls it chain migration which is a very derogatory term. But really it's family based immigration and in America as well as Asia, when we say family, it means your dad, mom, brother, sister and children. Well under Donald Trump's radical proposal, if you immigrant from Asia, you can no longer bring your parents, your siblings, your adult children. That is something that many many immigrants from all over the world oppose especially in America and I think that's why you're seeing many people voting against the president."

MAY LEE CGTN REPORTER "Last question Congressman, as an Asian American, I'm curious, how do you feel about the role that you're playing and the fact that you are a role model and that you're leading the way!"

REPRESENTATIVE TED LIEU CA 33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT "It's very nice of you to say that. I'm just trying to tell the truth. Trying to make sure we don't normalize what shouldn't be normalized and to make sure we can flip the house this Tuesday."

MAY LEE CGTN REPORTER "But being a representative in politics as an Asian American, which is not that common still, do you feel a little more responsibility because of that?"

REPRESENTATIVE TED LIEU CA 33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT "So what's interesting is that I generally don't think of myself as an Asian American. I just think of myself as a member of Congress, but Donald Trump has caused me to think of myself more as an Asian American because he repeatedly attacks people who look like me, people who are a different color, people who immigrated here. I'm actually one of the few members of Congress that immigrated to America and when Donald Trump attacks immigrants, I do feel it personally. That's one reason why I'm working very hard to correct the course of our nation and set a better path."

MAY LEE CGTN REPORTER "Well congressman Ted Lieu, thank you so much for your time and we will see what happens on November 6th."

REP. TED LIEU CA 33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT "Thank you, anytime."