Republicans pounding China more than Democrats in US election rhetoric

Speaking at the Republican National Convention in July 2024, Donald Trump invoked China 14 times. In a 92-minute address, the former president recycled his widely criticized term “China virus” for the Covid-19 pandemic, said China was stealing auto jobs, and touted how his administration had China beat on various fronts.

China also made it into the major addresses at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. On the first night, President Joe Biden said that on coming into office, “the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably surpass the United States.”

“No one is saying that now,” he added.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris echoed this sentiment on the final night, claiming that if elected she would ensure that “America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century.”

As an expert on how China is represented in US media culture and politics, I believe the fact that China is edging into the election rhetoric is of little surprise – nor is the imbalance in emphasis given to the country by the Democratic and Republican tickets, respectively.

Tried and tested election ploy

Since Biden’s exit from the presidential race, the Democratic candidates have seemingly limited their references to China on the campaign trail, in contrast with their Republican counterparts.

Trump and his Republican allies have long mobilized the use of China to position themselves as anti-Communist and to burnish their “America first” credentials.

For Trump, especially, it is a tried and tested electoral ploy. In the run-up to the 2016 election, Trump invoked China so frequently that The Huffington Post produced a mashup video of the candidate repeating “China” 234 times.

This has continued into the current election cycle.