GOP memo urges anti-China assault over coronavirus
The Senate Republican campaign arm distributed the 57-page strategy document to candidates.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted a ban on travel from China as
a key success in curbing the spread of coronavirus. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
04/24/2020 04:41 PM EDT
The National Republican Senatorial
Committee has sent campaigns a detailed, 57-page memo authored by a top
Republican strategist advising GOP candidates to address the coronavirus crisis
by aggressively attacking China.
The memo includes
advice on everything from how to tie Democratic candidates to the Chinese
government to how to deal with accusations of racism. It stresses three main
lines of assault: That China caused the virus “by covering it up,” that
Democrats are “soft on China,” and that Republicans will “push for sanctions on
China for its role in spreading this pandemic.”
“Coronavirus was a Chinese hit-and-run followed by a cover-up
that cost thousands of lives,” the April 17 memo states.
The document urges candidates to stay
relentlessly on message against the country when responding to any questions
about the virus. When asked whether the spread of the coronavirus is Trump’s
fault, candidates are advised to respond by pivoting to China.
“Don’t defend Trump, other than the China
Travel Ban — attack China,” the memo states.
Republicans have indicated they plan to
make China a centerpiece of the 2020 campaign. Trump’s reelection campaign
recently released a web video painting
Joe Biden as cozy with the authoritarian country. The pro-Trump super PAC
America First Action has launched several TV commercials tying Biden to China.
Advisers to the president say polling
shows China-focused attacks would be effective, and the reelection campaign has
weighed a major TV ad campaign focused on the topic.
The NRSC memo shows that Republicans are
also eager to make China an issue in down-ballot races. It was distributed by
the Senate GOP campaign arm, though it was not explicitly drafted by or for the
committee. It was authored by the political consulting firm of Brett O’Donnell,
a veteran Republican strategist who has advised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
Jesse Hunt, an NRSC spokesman, said: “We
routinely send campaigns different documents and sources of information dozens
of times per week. That’s the role of the party committee, especially in these
volatile times.”
O’Donnell declined to comment.
The memo includes guidance on what
Republican candidates can say when asked whether blaming China for the pandemic
incites racism. Candidates are urged to respond by saying that, “No one is
blaming Chinese Americans. This is the fault of the Chinese Communist Party for
covering up the virus and lying about its danger. This caused the pandemic and
they should be held accountable.”
“No one has suffered more from the
murderous Communist Chinese Party dictatorship than the people of China,” the
memo adds. “We stand with them against their corrupt government that caused
this pandemic.”
The GOP’s planned China-focused assault, however, is
complicated by Trump’s occasional praise for President Xi Jinping. The liberal
organization American Bridge recently launched a commercial which plays a clip of the
president praising Xi and declares that Trump “gave China his trust.”
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GOP "Corona Big Book" 2020 electoral attackplan against the Democrates (PDF)
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