Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote Saturday on social media that Rep. Lance Gooden’s (R-TX) accusation that Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) could have a connection to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “false, racist, and xenophobic.”
Hill’s remark came after several Democrats in Congress spoke out against Gooden for drawing attention to Chu and asserting she was an “honorary president” of a group called the All America Chinese Youth Federation (AACYF), leaders of which, Gooden said, allegedly belonged to front groups for the CCP.
Gooden and a handful of other Republicans wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray that was mainly about Biden appointee Dominic Ng’s possible ties to CCP front groups but also zeroed in on Chu. In it, Gooden said Chu advocated for Ng’s appointment to his current position, and Gooden asserted she was the honorary president of AACYF, despite her denying it the day before.
Gooden received some pushback but appeared on Fox News a few days later to double down, saying, “We’re standing up to Communist China, and these Democrats’ first reaction is to come to their defense and call us all racist.”
Gooden continued:
I question [Chu’s] either loyalty or competence. If she doesn’t realize what’s going on then she’s totally out of touch with one of her core constituencies. I think she has drug along the other Chinese American members to sign this letter, but I do think she’s the ringleader and I’m really disappointed and shocked that someone like Judy Chu would have a security clearance and be entitled to confidential intelligence briefings until this is figured out.
“The attacks on Rep. Judy Chu are false, racist, and xenophobic. All people of conscience should stand together to say so,” Hillary tweeted.
Of course, Gooden and the GOP didn’t target Chu because she’s Chinese, but this is how Democrats deflect from the substance of any accusation — by crying racism and/or sexism.