‘That’s RACIST!’ Elaine Chao’s Defenders Turn To Leftist Tactics After Bombshell Report On CCP Ties

Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s defenders responded to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation into her reported ties to Chinese Communist Party-linked organizations by accusing the report of racism.

Chao spokesman Patrick O’Connor called the investigation “racist,” while former National Security Council China Director Dennis Wilder described it as a “racist attack” on Chao. Their accusations drew pushback from critics who argued questions about Chao’s reported affiliations concern national security and disclosure, not her ethnicity.

“Let’s call this what it is — another racist attack on one of America’s finest public servants. Absolutely shameful,” Wilder wrote in response to the DCNF investigation.

Wilder previously served as the National Security Council’s China director and held CIA roles focused on East Asia.

O’Connor similarly accused the DCNF of racism while denying Chao ever held positions with a foreign government.

“She has never held a position with a foreign government or acted on behalf of one. We are not aware she has met with representatives from UFWD entities,” O’Connor told the DCNF. “Such a suggestion disregards her nearly five decades of faithful service to the United States and is both unfounded and deeply insulting, hurtful and racist.”

The DCNF asked O’Connor why Chao believed investigating her reported Chinese government ties was racist.

“No one seems to care when most American business or political leaders hold meetings in China, so it’s suspicious when the Daily Caller makes insinuations about a former two-time cabinet secretary of Asian descent, especially based on photos, some of which are decades old,” O’Connor said. “The secretary is a proud American who has devoted most of her professional life to serving the American people. To question her patriotism is a double standard, at best — racist, at worst.”

Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of State Armor, pushed back against Wilder’s accusation and raised questions about Wilder’s own work on U.S.-China relations.