From Dr. Oz to J. D. Vance, GOP candidates are flipping out over Beijing but not offering any real answers.
In the battle for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat, Dr. Mehmet Oz has any number of insults he could hurl at his main rival, the former hedge fund titan David McCormick. Oz, who has Donald Trump’s endorsement, could label McCormick’s Bridgewater Capital as a jobs killer or lampoon McCormick’s convenient transformation from normie Jeb Bush supporter to MAGA acolyte. But Oz is fulminating about McCormick’s China connections, and his beef with McCormick is best encapsulated in his ad, “ China Bro .” In the ad, two finance bros, “Tad” and “Chad,” declare, “Finance bro Dave McCormick is our hero” and laud him as “the Wolf of Westport,” a reference to where Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, is located. “Bro, do you think saying, ‘I invest in China’ is a good pickup line?” Tad asks Chad over brewskis. “Investing in foreign adversaries always plays!” Chad replies, adding, “McCormick sent jobs overseas.” “One day, maybe we can do that too!” Tad replies. “Dave’s more than another finance bro.” The pair conclude, “He’s China’s bro.” The ad’s kicker? The finance bros run through an office waving a “McCormick for Senate” sign—and a Chinese flag. “China Bro” doesn’t lack subtlety. And neither does Beijing bashing, which seems like it’s on every Republican candidate’s lips this year, certainly in prominent GOP primaries. That shouldn’t be entirely shocking given China’s economic power, military flexing, and human rights abuses, as well as the widespread belief, or at least posturing for the Republican base, that Beijing intentionally created the coronavirus. There are legitimate criticisms about China and a reason politicians from Bernie Sanders to Ted Cruz aim broadsides at Beijing. China is America’s main strategic rival, and it’s increasingly authoritarian as it crushes democracy in Hong Kong, locks down Shanghai residents, and imprisons Uyghurs. For the United States, pushing back against China militarily and economically is necessary and complex, and it calls for nuance as much as power. But figuring out how to take on China is a delicate dance. The U.S. and Chinese economies are intertwined in a way the U.S. and USSR never were. For instance, more than 70 percent of the goods sold at Walmart are made in China, according to one estimate, and Beijing owns over $1 trillion of our national debt. But “China Bro” is not nuanced—nor are the other GOP attacks on China. The Republican talking points vary in degrees of crazy, from spewing lab leak conspiracies to labeling opponents Chinese pawns. China criticism has become shorthand for candidates eager to woo the fervent GOP base that shows up in primaries. More than half of Republicans in a recent Economist /YouGov poll describe China as an “ enemy” versus 21 percent of Democrats. But one thing the Republicans’ China freak-out hasn’t done is articulate any sensible ideas for competing with America’s most powerful rival even as our economies are intertwined, and we need Beijing’s cooperation on everything from North Korea to climate change. With $33 million already spent on TV ads, the Republican primary for retiring U.S. Senator Pat Toomey’s seat in Pennsylvania may be the nation’s most expensive. The clown car of candidates seeking the nomination is the GOP personified: There’s McCormick, the former hedge titan, who ran a Super Bowl ad punctuated by chants of “Let’s Go, Brandon,” and media personality Kathy Barnette, who trumpets the Big Lie that Trump won the 2020 election. This doesn’t even include Trump’s initial pick, author and Army veteran Sean Parnell, who exited the race after the judge in his custody battle determined he abused his wife. And, of course, there’s Dr. Oz. In Pennsylvania, where fracking, guns, and taxes might be typical issues in a GOP Senate primary, it’s all about China. McCormick and Oz portray one another as Beijing pawns. McCormick told Fox News in March that he wants to fight China by creating supply chains and manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania, which would be swell if anyone knew how to create industrial jobs magically.
