Former President Bill Clinton and Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson will address Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups on Friday at a presidential election forum co-hosted by APIAVote and the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
Bill Clinton will be representing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and APIAVote and AAJA have noted that they've invited the Trump campaign to represent Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"This tri-partisan AAPI Presidential Election Forum is historic," Paul Cheung, AAJA president, wrote in a post on AAJA's website. "For the first time, the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian presidential campaigns will directly speak at the same event to the AAPI community at large."
Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and Rep. Mike Honda are also expected to speak at the forum, which is scheduled to take place Friday, August 12 — during the annual AAJA national convention — at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to AAJA, nearly 4,000 community leaders and journalists are expected to attend the forum, in addition to "watch parties" hosted across the country by AAPI community groups.
The forum will take place one week after Hillary Clinton addressed a joint gathering of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Washington, DC. According to NAHJ and NABJ organizers, Trump declined their invite to address the groups.
Hillary Clinton has previously addressed the AAPI community during her campaign. In January, Clinton spoke at the launch of her campaign's official AAPI outreach efforts, AAPI for Hillary, as well as at a gala in May hosted by the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS).
Update, Aug. 11: Green Party nominee Jill Stein has also confirmed attendance at the election forum, according to AAJA organizers.
Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.
