New Hampshire Congressional Candidate Maggie Goodlanderformer Justice Department official married to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivanrecently criticized the Biden administration’s actions toward China when asked if there was a U.S. policy she disagreed with.
“I think there is more work that could be done to be tough on China,” said Goodlander, a Democrat, told New Hampshire television WMUR station.
Goodlander’s husband holds an important role in the White House. Her work focuses heavily on foreign policy, including U.S.-China relations.
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council declined to comment Wednesday on Goodlander’s remarks.
When reached for comment, a Goodlander campaign official said the interview transcript speaks for itself.
“Maggie believes there is more to be done in China when it comes to the opioid issues and combating the ways Chinese companies fuel the Russian war machine,” the campaign manager said.
Both Democrats and Republicans have highlighted China as a key foreign policy issue in the 2024 elections, especially as tensions between the world’s two largest economies have increased over trade policies, the status and security of Taiwan, military communications and technology.
During the interview, Goodlander also praised the president Joe Bidensaying he “has done incredible things to improve the United States’ role around the world,” according to a transcript provided by the campaign but not published by WMUR.
Goodlander pointed to the need to “hold accountable the Chinese state-owned companies fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine” and to combat opioid production, according to the transcript.
“The truth is that overdose deaths here in New Hampshire often start with overseas Chinese chemical companies,” she said in the transcript.
The US claims China is the main source of precursor chemicals used to create fentanyl by drug cartels in Mexico. China he has He argued that the roots of the drug crisis are in the USA
The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Goodlander’s comments.
His comments came just days after the Biden Administration Announced which was increasing tariffs on $18 billion of Chinese exports, including electric vehicles. Also this month, the Biden administration released new sanctions against entities that supported Russia’s war efforts, including Chinese entities.
Goodlander appeared to reference these steps.
“We’ve made a good start, as we’ve seen in the last few weeks, the last two weeks, in fact, from the administration to impose sanctions on Chinese state entities, but there’s more work that needs to be done.” she said in the transcript about combating actors “who fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the US sanctions and tariff increases, with a press release from the Chinese ministry calling the measures “a more typical case of hegemonism and intimidation”.
Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping near San Francisco in November after the two leaders spent a year without speaking. After the meeting, Biden said that his talks with Xi marked “some of the most productive and constructive discussions we have had”.
The two leaders held a follow-up conversation in April, where they reviewed updates on issues discussed in California, including combating drug trafficking, artificial intelligence and military-to-military communication.
More recently, however, Xi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, where the Chinese leader said that China “hopes for Europe’s rapid return to peace and stability and will continue to play a constructive role in this regard”.
Goodlander was also asked in the interview how she would handle a race between New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District — the House seat she is running for — and the Biden administration, given her husband’s position in the White House.
“I love my husband. I admire him. He has an incredibly difficult job,” Goodlander told WMUR. “I also admire the president, he has an even harder job. But one of the extraordinary and essential things about America is that we have a separation of powers.”
Goodlander previously served as a senior Justice Department official during the Biden administration. She launched her bid for Congress this month, setting up a primary race against 2016 Democratic candidate for governor Colin Van Ostern and state Sen. Becky Whitley for the seat currently held by Rep. Annie Kuster, who announced in March that she would not seek re-election. election.
Van Ostern, who lost to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in 2016, secured the support of Kuster and several current and former local officials before Goodlander entered the race.
The main thing is scheduled for September 10th.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
