On Aug. 24 Mr. Trump escalated with a statement that “The Democrats have Mitch McConnell and his lovely wife, Elaine ‘Coco’ Chao, over a barrel. He and she will never be prosecuted, as per the last paragraphs of this story.” He then linked to a story in The Federalist, an online publication, that was full of guilt by innuendo.
Ms. Chao came to the U.S. as a child from Taiwan, not China. You may have heard there’s a difference. She’s one of six daughters of James S.C. Chao, who founded the Foremost Group, a U.S. shipping company based in New York. It’s an immigrant success story. Ms. Chao’s sister Angela is now CEO, but Elaine is neither an employee nor an owner…
If he believes what he says, then why did Mr. Trump invite Ms. Chao to join his cabinet? The Foremost Group’s commercial history and business with China were all known at the time. Mr. Trump also praised Ms. Chao for doing “an incredible job” as late in his term as July 2020. In April 2020 he said she was doing a “fantastic job.” Ms. Chao’s real offense, apart from being married to Mr. McConnell, is that she resigned from the cabinet after the Jan. 6 riot. Mr. Trump can’t abide that stand on principle…
Beyond the unfairness to Ms. Chao, all of this relates to Mr. Trump’s role in the GOP. Instead of focusing on President Biden, Mr. Trump cares above all about settling scores with members of his own party. His politics is always about himself, not a larger cause. His vendettas have already hurt Republican prospects in 2022 by blackballing good candidates and letting Democrats divert attention from Mr. Biden’s failures. No wonder Democrats are thrilled to have Mr. Trump around.
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