Senator's Daughter Went on 'Racist Rant' at Asian-American Couple, Media Says

Maura Moynihan, daughter of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, has been identified as the person who reportedly went on an “ugly, racist rant” in a cab in New York City, WABC-TV reports.

According to the media outlet, Maria Ha, 25, and Dan Lee, 31, said that an unknown lady verbally harassed them on Sunday, telling them to go back to “communist China.”

"This is extremely hurtful," Lee said. "Like for me personally, I was born in the U.S., my entire life, and to be told to leave this country, to go back to Communist China, is seriously offensive. I was born here. This is my home."

​The suspect’s identity was eventually established after the media outlet traced the face mask she was wearing (seen in a video of the incident recorded by Lee) to The Colony, a performing arts theatre in Woodstock, the website of which featured “posts from people claiming to know the suspect, saying they ‘will never speak to her again.'"

While Moynihan had apparently deleted her social media accounts by Tuesday, and initially did not respond to emails, on Wednesday she admitted to WABC-TV that she was indeed the woman in the video.

Arguing that the incident in question was merely a dispute over a cab, Moynihan claimed that "it had nothing whatsoever to do with any bias or racism or anti-Asian American prejudice, as has been wrongly suggested."

"I have devoted most of my life to working with and for Asian people, most particularly in the cause of securing basic human rights for the Tibetan people in their continuing struggle against Communist China," she said.

While Moynihan said she would be happy to meet with the couple and explain the situation to them, Ha remarked that what the accused said "wasn’t an apology."

"We don't accept they behaviour at all, so I don't want to meet her. Why would I meet her?" Ha added.