In an interview with Breitbart News, both men blasted Communist China over its mishandling of coronavirus, which was allowed to infect citizens who then spread the virus all over the world via global travel.
And at the same time, both laid out their vision for relocating American manufacturing out of China and elsewhere back to the United States.
“He’s already stood up to China in so many ways as our ambassador to Japan, and when it wasn’t popular in some Republican circles in 2016 Bill Hagerty supported Donald Trump,” Cotton said of the Tennessee senatorial candidate and former diplomat running for a seat being vacated by long-serving Sen. Lamar Alexander.
“He worked hard to get Donald Trump elected, to beat Hillary Clinton. He walks the walk, he doesn’t just talk the talk,” Cotton added.
Hagarty was on the front lines when Trump began ‘negotiations’ with China regarding trade, as in, implementing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods.
He explained that the reason he came back to run for Alexander’s seat is because he knows that, when it comes to China especially, there is much more to do, policy-wise.
Hagarty also said that the country is in chaos right now, thanks to Marxist Democrats, and that if they win more power, things will get even worse.
“Our nation is at a crossroads right now. If you just turn on the TV, you see bedlam, looting, chaos. Our social system is under attack. If the Democrats have their way, the American dream will be lost forever. I am very concerned about it. President Trump is too. That’s a key reason why he endorsed me to come back and run for the United States Senate,” Hagarty told Breitbart News Radio.
“He needs an ally who will stand strong against these socialist Democrats in Washington. He also needs someone who understands how to deal with China,” he added.
“I had that experience because Japan is the location of more U.S. forces than anyplace else in the world besides the United States. I was there, busy staring China in the eye militarily, diplomatically, and economically, because Japan is the cornerstone of dealing with all of Asia, and China is our greatest threat there. Make no mistake, China is not our friend,” he added.
As far as how it’s possible to hold China to account, Cotton said he and other GOP lawmakers including Tennessee’s now-junior U.S. senator, Marsha Blackburn, have introduced legislation that would literally force the Communist regime in Beijing to pay up for all of the global damage done by the pandemic. (Related: Right on schedule, the United Nations is intervening in U.S. domestic affairs, claiming Trump has no right to defend cities against left-wing terrorists.)
“I’ll start by saying that we should literally make China pay for the horror that they have inflicted on millions of Americans,” Cotton said. “That’s why I’ve proposed legislation with Sen. Blackburn and other senators to allow Americans harmed by the Wuhan coronavirus to sue Chinese officials in federal court.”
He said there are other ways to make China pay as well, such as enticing American companies to leave the Asian country and return to the U.S.
“It’s one of the key reasons President Trump has already brought me back to work on this issue. He made me a member of the White House Economic Recovery Task Force,” Hagerty explained.
“One of the key things I’m focusing on is getting our supply chains back from China. America can no longer be dependent on China for key things like antibiotics, medical devices, certainly not for high technology,” he added.
“I know how to hit China where it hurts. I’m going to work hard to make ‘Made In the USA’ the theme of America again.”
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