Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe discusses U.S. companies doing business in China and COVID cases surging at the border.
SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES HOST MARIA BARTIROMO: Joining me right now to discuss the Communist Party and corporate America, the man who told us months ago that COVID-19 likely escaped from the Wuhan lab and China is covering it up, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
John, it’s great to see you. Thanks very much.
JOHN RATCLIFFE, FORMER U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Great to be with you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: I believe, during the 100th year anniversary speech, Xi Jinping discussed corporate America as a way in to America in some ways.
They’re already on the inside of this country. Your reaction to what you have heard this morning.
RATCLIFFE: Yes, no better example than your interview with Jamie Dimon.
As I listened to Mr. Dimon, I was struck by the fact that very little of what he said is consistent with U.S. intelligence on China or consistent with China’s actions in the global marketplace. He kept calling them a strategic competitor. They’re not. They’re an unlawful, dishonest competitor in the world marketplace. But more importantly, they’re our number one adversary, our top national security threat. They want to supplant us as the world’s superpower… they want to subjugate us to communist rules in order in the world marketplace.
And, quite frankly, Maria, it is those Wall Street investment banks that have been the biggest perpetrators of this false narrative of China as some noble strategic competitor. And they do so because those investment banks are selling trillions, not billions, but trillions of dollars in debt and equities in Chinese companies to U.S. investors and retirees. They’re literally banking on the success of China and the Chinese Communist Party over U.S. national security interests.
So, I was really troubled by what Mr. Dimon said… Three times, he said… China acts like any other country in the world, and we shouldn’t get breathless over them. That’s just simply not true. There is no country who has done more to damage the world economy or the citizens of the world over the past few years than China.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RATCLIFFE: China and China alone is responsible for millions and millions of deaths from COVID-19 and the actions that they took to cover it up. So, it’s about time that we have an honest discussion about who China is, and not allow these false narratives to be perpetrated.
BARTIROMO: Chinese firms have raised about $76 billion through IPOs in the U.S. in the past decade.
You have got China Telecom now wanting to raise even more, China Telecom just this past week talking about raising $7.3 billion in the top listing of 2021, John. And here is how Roger Robinson explained it to me, Roger Robinson Jr., when he joined me on FOX Business last week: “The greatest financial scandal in world history, the multitrillion-dollar underwriting by a democracy of a totalitarian police state bent on its utter destruction, courtesy of greed- driven Wall Street firms and corrupt government regulators at the Treasury and the SEC.”
Where is Biden’s government? Where is Biden’s administration here, John? Why is it that they are telling us that the Chinese companies can still avoid answering U.S. audits? I mean, they don’t even have to report their true earnings. And, of course, they’re being subsidized by the CCP, and investors are just buying it, as if the numbers are real. And they don’t even follow Sarbanes- Oxley the way every other company does.
RATCLIFFE: The reason for that is, Maria, as you have outlined, there are financial and economic reasons, and there are also political reasons that folks don’t want China to be the bad guy. They don’t want it to be the villain. They want to put the number of 1.4 billion Chinese and the profits that can be made there over the interests of a number like 600,000, which is the number of American deaths, and counting, from China’s treachery and their actions to cover up COVID-19 and its origins.
And so the Biden administration and I think, frankly, administrations of all Western democracy should approach policy decisions with regard to accountability for the great tragedy caused by China. And restitution for economic losses and for loss of life should be part of foreign policy by Western governments with regard to China going forward. That’s the only way we hold China accountable, instead of complaining about it, countering it.
And the Biden administration has a wonderful opportunity to lead on this. I doubt they will have the courage to do so.
BARTIROMO: Well, I mean, look, I mentioned China Telecom. They raised money in Hong Kong, because now the CCP sees Hong Kong as the only place its companies can raise money. I mean, just the crackdown in Hong Kong alone should have been enough for the G7 countries to say, we can’t accept this, the CCP coming in 20 years too soon and getting the goose-step police in there and throwing freedom fighters in jail. Global companies are now looking to exits out of Hong Kong.
Jamie Dimon told me as well his operation was impacted by the crackdown.
RATCLIFFE: Yes, you led in with a clip from Nike’s CEO, who is saying, we are of and for China. And they’re investing heavily in China. It shows the hypocrisy of corporate interests in this country. I mean, Nike is supporting the Chinese Communist Party with their policies. They’re a company that criticizes U.S. policy, but they won’t step out on China.
And, unfortunately, again, you have companies putting profits over national security interests. And it’s time for the Biden administration to be clear- eyed and take decisive action in terms of countering all of the terrible things that China has done that are really not debatable.
BARTIROMO: Yes, well, which is why we constantly mention all of the conflicts of interest in the Biden family and how much money Hunter Biden made in China, because you have to ask a question, yourself, whether or not this is because of the conflicts of interest.
But, look, I want to move on. I want to move on to more shocking news at the Southern border this week. You have got COVID coming in, illicit drugs coming in. And Joe Biden continues to ignore the severity of this, and instead take shots at governors from red states, like Texas and Florida.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Just two states, Florida and Texas, account for one-third of all new COVID-19 cases in the entire country. I say to these governors, please help. But if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: “Get out of the way.” John, your reaction?
RATCLIFFE: Well, it’s infuriating. It’s nonsensical. But the bottom line is, it’s just total garbage. I came on your program in January and talked about the fact that, if Joe Biden reversed the policies at our border, he would create a humanitarian crisis that didn’t exist. That’s exactly what happened.
You have documented that well on this program, Maria. But what neither one of us saw was that he would take a humanitarian crisis and now create a public health crisis at our border as well. By his actions, he’s created the largest COVID super-spreader event anywhere on the planet at the Southern border in Texas right now.
And to criticize Texas over COVID is just nonsensical. Let me put this in perspective for you, Maria. As you and I, as U.S. citizens, if we go to Mexico City, and we want to return to our home country, we can’t do so, the Biden administration says we can’t do so without a COVID-negative test.
At the very same time, the Biden administration is allowing thousands of COVID-infected illegal aliens not only into the country, but then transporting them around the country in what has been the largest super-spreader COVID event anywhere in the world. The Biden administration is directly responsible for that.
BARTIROMO: And yet Joe Biden made believe he didn’t know who Ron DeSantis is last week. Ron DeSantis pushed back, saying, what else doesn’t he remember?
There’s that other elephant in the room, in terms of cognitive difficulties from the leader of the free world. What does that tell our adversaries across the world?
RATCLIFFE: Well, I mean, I hate to criticize Joe Biden. It almost seems like elder abuse to talk about those things.
But the bottom line is, whether or not he’s making decisions or not, he’s accountable for the decisions of his administration. And both domestically and from a foreign policy standpoint, they have been a disaster. And the American people, I’m confident, will hold him accountable at the upcoming elections, both in the midterms and in 2024.
And, frankly, I think that will be important to do to save America.
BARTIROMO: Well, they’re trying to save Kamala Harris’ brand right now with these emergency meetings. She will be next up.
RATCLIFFE: Good luck.
BARTIROMO: We will be watching that. John Ratcliffe, it’s good to see you. Thanks very much.
RATCLIFFE: Thank you.