Republicans promote baseless theory about Tim Walz’s China visits — and claim he was ‘groomed’ as double-agent

Republicans and right-wing media are escalating a baseless conspiracy theory that Tim Walz is covertly working for China, twisting his teaching experience in the country and his subsequent visits as alleged evidence of a Chinese effort to “groom” him to have a “foothold” in the US government.

After launching flailing investigations into Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, House Republicans have suggested opening yet another probe to target Harris’s running mate.

Donald Trump’s campaign, his Republican allies and right-wing media outlets have sought to undermine Walz’s military service and the fertility treatments that his wife used to become pregnant with their children.

Now, GOP lawmakers are pressing federal authorities for documents and testimony as media figures drum up baseless speculation about Walz’s career in education to attack Harris’s campaign.

James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to FBI director Chriostopher Wray alleging Walz’s “longstanding connections” to the Chinese Communist Party “that make him susceptible to the Party’s strategy of elite capture, which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural, and academic circles to influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.”

“If you look at Walz’s background, and you look at the things he talked about … this is a guy who has really embraced China’s view of the world, the Chinese ideology, which is communism,” Comer told Fox News on Monday.

“It’s very possible that China would be grooming an up and coming rising star in the political process to try to have a foothold in our government,” Comer said.

Senator Ron Johnson, who was described byThe New York Times as the GOP’s