Republicans view being tough on China and depicting President Joe Biden as soft on the topic as a winning election strategy, with Beijing widely considered by the American public as a potential danger to the U.S., The Hill reported on Sunday.
Congressional Republicans are accusing Biden’s team and policies of failing to stand up to China, hoping to use the issue for both a midterm elections attack and the 2024 presidential race.
“China is a very safe place for Republicans to be on offense… you're not going to be punished for being anti-China,” Doug Heye, a former House Republican aide and former communications director for the Republican National Committee, told The Hill.
Republicans have raised objections to the president’s Cabinet picks based on their perceived softness towards China.
This continues a strategy the GOP used during the 2020 election campaign, in which the party issued a detailed memo explaining how Republican candidates could aggressively attack China and tie Democrat candidates to Beijing, according to Politico.
An example of China-related criticism directed at Biden by Republicans early in his administration was the president’s decision to rejoin the World Health Organization.
GOP congressmen have said the WHO was complicit in the spread of the coronavirus due to its failure to confront China, with Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Josh Hawley introducinig legislation seeking to block U.S. funds for the organization until its leadership is replaced and it accepts Taiwan as a member state.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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