Michigan Senate candidate and former Representative Pete Hoekstra (R) waded into birther territory several weeks ago, after he lamented that John McCain refused to force the issue in 2008. The Hill first flagged Hoekstra’s comments, which were made in early May but just disclosed via a video uploaded on Tuesday.

“I think with this president, the book is closed,” said Hoekstra in response to an attendee at the Michigan Tea Party event, before clarifying that the issue was only off the table because Republicans missed their opportunity to expose President Obama:

“We lost that debate in 2008 when our presidential nominee said ‘I ain’t talking about it’… I’d love to give you the answer and say that I’m going to fight it, we’re going to beat it and we’re going to win it. I think it wasn’t fought and we lost it.”

Hoekstra instead proposed a new three-person panel made up of intelligence officials from the CIA and FBI to investigate future presidential nominees and verify they are constitutionally eligible to hold the office. Watch it, courtesy of YouTube user JimCMacomb:

A spokesman for Hoekstra’s campaign later told The Hill that the candidate does in fact believe Obama is a U.S. citizen. But this isn’t the first time he has used fear of “foreigners” to rally conservative voters. A xenophobic ad aired during the 2012 Super Bowl in February depicting a Chinese worker mockingly thanking Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) led to widespread, bipartisan condemnation and an eventual apology from the candidate.

Former Michigan congressman Pete Hoekstra, now campaigning for Senate against Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D), announced a state-wide bus tour yesterday dubbed Patriots For Pete, featuring former presidential candidate Herman Cain, who suspended his campaign after facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment. While Cain’s support is likely intended to rally the Republican base, it could backfire.

Hoekstra, of course, has been in the news recently thanks to a xenophobic campaign ad attacking Stabenow. That ad has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and the actress who appeared in it has apologized for her role. (The ad and its accompanying website have since been taken down.)

If Hoekstra is trying to move the discussion away from his controversial statements, he probably should have stayed away from a man who had these things to say about minorities during his campaign:

– On whether being gay is a choice: “Well, you show me the science that it’s not and I’ll be persuaded. Right now it’s my opinion against the opinions of others who feel differently.”

– On Americans banning mosques: “Yes. They have a right to do that. That’s not discriminating based upon religion.”

– On an (unconstitutional) loyalty oath for Muslims: “When you interview a person for a job, you look at their work record, you look at their resume, and then you have a one-on-one personal interview. During that personal interview, like in the business world and anywhere else, you are able to get a feeling for how committed that person is to the Constitution.”

– On sharia law and religious freedom: “We have a First Amendment. And I get upset when the Muslims in this country, some of them, try to force their Sharia law onto the rest of us.”

– On his border fence: “It’s going to be 20 feet high. It’s going to have barbed wire on the top. It’s going to be electrified. And there’s going to be a sign on the other side saying, ‘It will kill you — Warning.’”

Hoekstra has his own record to be concerned about, having courted controversy well before the now-infamous ad was released. Seeking support from others who make outlandish statements might not be helpful to his campaign.

– Zachary Bernstein

WASHINGTON, DC — Former Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis joined the chorus of criticism against fellow Republican Pete Hoekstra’s recent advertisement that has been roundly criticized as xenophobic and racially insensitive.

Hoekstra’s ad, which aired during the Super Bowl last weekend, featured an Asian woman in a rice paddy in China — the scene was actually shot in California — speaking broken English and thanking Stabenow because “we take your jobs.” Hoesktra is currently running for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat. Watch the ad here.

ThinkProgress spoke with Anuzis at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday about the ad. Anuzis spared few punches, calling the ad “dumb” and in “bad taste.”

KEYES: There’s been a bit of a controversy this week with this new ad. What’s your take? Do you think it was in poor taste?

ANUZIS: I’m not too worried about the poor taste, I just think it was a dumb ad. Pete Hoekstra voted to raise taxes, Pete Hoekstra voted for the “Bridge to Nowhere,” Pete Hoekstra voted five times to increase the debt ceiling, and then he goes out and leads with his chin by saying, “I’m against Debbie Stabenow because she sold all of our debt to China.” Well, he voted for that debt. [...]

KEYES: A lot of people have said this borderlines on racial insensitivity. Do you think you would agree with that?

ANUZIS: At best it was in bad taste. It’s not something I would have done. But I’m not too worried about that as much as the issues that are behind that. I think the beauty of this ad is the hypocrisy that Pete Hoekstra is trying to go after Debbie Stabenow for spending when he voted the same way.

Anuzis also called out Hoekstra for his “hypocrisy” in voting for many of the proposals that increased the very debt discussed in the ‘China’ ad.

Though Hoekstra originally unveiled the ad on the website www.debbiespenditnow.com, a major backlash ensued and he took down the site yesterday, now redirecting visitors to his campaign website. The ad itself is still live on Youtube, however.

His Republican primary opponent, Clark Durant, released a response ad this week, criticizing Hoekstra’s ad as “demeaning.”

In what has become a sad, bipartisan exercise, an increasing number of campaigns are using xenophobic Chinese stereotypes in advertisements to try to gin up nativist sentiment among voters.

During the 2010 campaign, then-Rep. Zack Space (D-OH) began the recent trend with an ad supposedly depicting a parade in China — the actual footage was of Asian Americans in San Francisco — and a tagline “thanking” his opponent: “As they say in China, xie xie Mr. Gibbs!” An anti-spending front group, Citizens Against Government Waste, followed suit with a cryptic ad raising the prospect that our national debt would cause America’s economic downfall and soon force us to work for the Chinese. Most reprehensibly, Mark Amodei ran an ad in a Nevada special election depicting a Chinese military invasion in front of the U.S. Capitol building as it flies the Chinese flag.

Former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), currently running to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), is the latest to try to stoke anti-Chinese fears for political gain. His new ad, entitled “Now”, shows a woman in what’s meant to be rural China speaking broken English and thanking Stabenow because “we take your jobs.” “Your economy get very weak, ours get very good,” the woman says. “Hoekstra’s mock website hosting the ad features Chinese characters adorned with two Chinese flags. Watch it:

These ads are not-so-subtly intended to provoke nativist fears, and do so by purveying unfortunate stereotypes. Yet despite Hoekstra’s fear-mongering, the fact remains that China still holds just 9.5 percent of the United States’ debt, over four times less than what American bondholders own.