President Biden called Japan a “xenophobic” country during a campaign event Wednesday evening, putting the U.S. ally in a group with authoritarian rivals such as China and Russia and suggesting that a lack of immigration may be why the nations were “stalling so badly economically.”

The remarks, widely reported Thursday in the Japanese press, came less than a month after Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a high-profile state visit to cement their alliance. The president also suggested that India, another nation that partners with the United States on security measures, was fearful of foreigners in his remarks.