Study: Republicans Tweet More About China, Despite Dems Tweeting More Overall

A recent study by the University of California San Diego found that Democrats tweet way more than Republicans — except on China, which is the nation’s top national security threat.

The first part of the study’s series, titled “Who In The U.S. Congress Tweets About China?,” found that a Democrat member on average tweets about 60% more than a Republican member, but when it comes to China, “the opposite is true.”

Republicans tweeted more than Democrats about China in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic emerged from China.

“A higher proportion of Republicans than Democrats tweet about China. In 2019, 75% of Republicans tweeted about China, in comparison to 71% of Democrats. The Republican-Democratic divergence became greater in 2020 when a full 90% of Republicans tweeted about China, in comparison to 71% of Democrats,” the study said.

Interestingly, the study found that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted about China only 13 times in two years, despite having the most active Twitter account in Congress, at about 2,471 tweets a year — more than six tweets a day.

Swalwell was reportedly entangled in a romantic relationship with a suspected Chinese spy, Fang Fang.

Republicans have also introduced more legislation on China than Democrats.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN), who tweeted about China 585 times — more than any other member of Congress — said in a statement:

Democrats are afraid to stand up to China on Twitter, so it’s not surprising that they don’t have the guts to take on China on the House floor. Their fake China bill doesn’t just fail to counter China—it would actually help China by lifting visa limits on high-skilled foreign nationals and failing to protect research from Chinese espionage.

Voters from both parties understand that China threatens the U.S. But somehow, in Congress, standing up to China has become a partisan issue and if that doesn’t change America will face a national security disaster.

Banks introduced on March 18 the Safeguard Our Universities From Foreign Influence Act, to bolster disclosure requirements and enforcement for foreign gifts and contracts at U.S. universities, where China attempts to influence academics.

He has also introduced the Countering Communist China Act, a comprehensive bill to combat the China threat, and the Countering Chinese Propaganda Act to authorize sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign propaganda wing known as the United Front Work Department.

Banks and Republican Study Committee members have also led conservative opposition to Speaker Pelosi’s COMPETES Act, which Banks has dubbed the “CONCEDES Act.”

Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on Twitter or on Facebook. 

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases