Trump Endorses 7 Candidates With Records of Addressing China Problems in US

Trump Endorses 7 Candidates With Records of Addressing China Problems in US
Former President Donald Trump speaks during the American Freedom Tour at the Austin Convention Center in Texas on May 14, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Frank Fang
5/15/2022
Updated:
5/16/2022
0:00

Former President Donald Trump on May 14 endorsed five incumbent House lawmakers and two state legislators, each of them for having made a mark in tackling serious problems posed by the communist regime in China during their public service.

Trump endorsed Reps. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), and David Rouzer (R-N.C.) for reelection, saying that each of them has his “complete and total endorsement.”

The former president applauded Bishop and Rouzer for being “conservative warrior[s],” while lauding Hudson for advancing the “MAGA agenda” and McHenry for holding President Joe Biden “accountable for his catastrophic failures.”

Additionally, Trump also endorsed California Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a Republican who is running for a House seat representing California’s 3rd Congressional District, as well as Pennsylvania’s state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican who is seeking to become the state’s new governor.

“Kevin Kiley is tough on securing our border, ending California’s reckless universal mail-in-ballots, and securing our elections,” Trump wrote in his endorsement. “Kevin is going to be a MAGA Champion in Congress and has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Trump’s endorsements come just days before primaries in several states, including Idaho, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina on May 17. All 22 Trump-endorsed candidates secured victories in recent Indiana and Ohio primaries. However, Charles Herbster, who was endorsed by Trump, recently lost in the Nebraska GOP gubernatorial primary.
Bishop, Fulcher, Hudson, McHenry, and Rouzer were among over 200 House Republicans who wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in May 2021, demanding that their Democratic counterparts “hold the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] accountable for its role in causing the global COVID-19 pandemic.” They wanted House Democrats to back a probe of the origins of the CCP virus.
In February 2021, Bishop was among 14 House Republicans seeking an FBI briefing regarding counterintelligence threats posed by the CCP to congressional lawmakers, particularly Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) past ties to an alleged CCP spy named Christine Fang. According to an Axios investigation, U.S. intelligence officials believe she was working under the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security, the regime’s top spy agency.
Fulcher is one of more than 30 co-sponsors of a House bill (H.R.1592) that seeks to stop China’s state-sanctioned practice of forced harvesting of organs for transplant from prisoners of conscience. The legislation was introduced in both the House and the Senate in March 2021.
Hudson was among a bipartisan group of four lawmakers who introduced the Open RAN Outreach Act in June 2021 (H.R.4032). According to a statement from his office, the legislation would help “protect small and rural communications providers from Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-backed companies, such as Huawei, and other bad actors.” The legislation was approved by the House in October last year.
In March 2021, McHenry introduced the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act (H.R.1466), with the aim of ending U.S. overreliance on Chinese-made personal protective equipment.
McHenry and Rouzer criticized the controversial COMPETES Act when it was approved by the House in February, saying it failed to address the “generational threat” posed by the communist regime.
Rouzer has also criticized Biden’s decision to rejoin the World Health Organization, calling the world health body a “mouthpiece for Communist China.”
Kiley has been known for confronting California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, particularly over the governor’s 2020 deal of spending $1 billion to buy masks made by the Chinese company BYD. Citing a media report, Kiley warned on Twitter that BYD has “​​a history of supplying allegedly faulty products to the U.S., ties to the Chinese military and Communist Party, and possible links to forced labor.”
In December 2021, Mastriano announced legislation requiring state agencies to withdraw their investments from CCP-controlled companies.

“For far too long, Pennsylvania has invested hundreds of millions in government funds in a regime that continues to trample human rights,” he said. “Divestment by Pennsylvania alone will not bring down this regime, but that doesn’t mean we should help it prosper. It is far past time to separate our state funds from companies controlled by the CCP.”

Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers U.S., China, and Taiwan news. He holds a master's degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
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