CNN: McCormick Increased Investments in China by “108,000%” as Hedge Fund CEO, Including in Chinese Companies Blacklisted by the U.S. Government
American Journal News: “David McCormick Bungles Critique of Sen. Casey’s China Policy”
PENNSYLVANIA — David McCormick is under fire after new reports this month exposed David McCormick’s deep ties to China and his long record of selling out to China at the expense of Pennsylvanians.
A report from CNN showed McCormick increased investments in China by 108,000% as CEO of Bridgewater, including in companies blacklisted by the U.S. government. Shortly afterward another report from American Journal News caught McCormick lying about Sen. Casey’s long record of standing up to China.
What They’re Saying:
- In Republican David McCormick’s second bid for US Senate in Pennsylvania, he has rebranded himself as a Trumpian-hardliner on China, sounding the warning bells on US economic ties with China.
- However, as the head of the world’s largest hedge fund, McCormick oversaw massive investments into US exchange traded Chinese companies and holdings, according to a CNN KFile review of the hedge fund’s holdings.
- Under McCormick’s leadership from 2017 through 2021, Bridgewater Associates disclosed holdings in US exchange traded Chinese companies grew from $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2017 to $1.77 billion in the final quarter of 2021, according to filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission reviewed by CNN’s KFile.
- That amounts to a 108,000% increase in Chinese holdings over a five-year period. In 2017, Bridgewater reported investing in just one US exchange traded Chinese company; by the final quarter of 2021, its holdings included 47 Chinese companies.
- During McCormick’s leadership at Bridgewater, at least one of the hedge fund’s invested companies had ties to human rights violations and abuses in the country and has been blacklisted by the US government. Another has partnered with a state-run company the US government prohibits US investments in.
American Journal News: David McCormick bungles critique of Sen. Casey’s China policy
- David McCormick, a Republican Senate hopeful in Pennsylvania, urged Democratic Sen. Bob Casey to do more to curtail China’s influence in the private sector, but McCormick’s suggestions are things Casey has already done.
- In a thread posted to the online platform X, McCormick endorsed a bill co-sponsored by Casey that will require public equity firms to disclose their investments in China to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But McCormick said the legislation did not go far enough.
- McCormick seems unaware that Casey co-sponsored a bill this year mandating that investors disclose stakes in Chinese companies in sectors related to national security, including AI and satellite-based communications.
- McCormick has called on the U.S. to stop investing in China. But prior to running for public office, he was the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut-based private equity firm with Chinese investments. According to CNN, Bridgewater’s Chinese holdings grew from $1.6 million to $1.77 billion under his leadership; a 108,000% increase.
- Under Casey’s bills, Bridgewater would be required to disclose these holdings.
###