LANGHORN, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s Senate race is expected to attract up to $360 million in advertising spending, but the candidates’ personal finances are in the spotlight this week.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) owns about 3 cents of stock in Yichang Renfu, a Chinese company that produces legal fentanyl for medical use in China.
The company says it does not export the drug to the United States, and Casey’s campaign has defended the senator, arguing the investment was made through a joint 529 college savings plan and represented less than 1% of the total value of the index fund.
Fox News reported Tuesday. Through the fund, Casey also has investments in two other Chinese fentanyl companies, Jiangsu Huahua Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Sinopharm Group Ltd., which are involved in the manufacturing and wholesale of the drug in China.
Casey’s Republican opponent, former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, ran a strong campaign against fentanyl for the Senate, repeatedly claiming that the drug caused the equivalent number of deaths in the US last year to “two Vietnam Wars.”
McCormick has faced criticism in the past over his China investments, including in television ads supporting Casey.
McCormick’s former firm, Bridgewater Associates, $1.7 million to Yichang Human Well In 2021, the now-politician served as CEO.
Asked about the news about Casey’s investments, McCormick sought to distinguish between his own investments as a business executive and his opponent’s personal portfolio.
“Bridgewater was not Dave McCormick and he owned part of a pharmaceutical company that sold legitimate medicines. [fentanyl] “To China,” McCormick told The Post on Tuesday.
“And now we know that Bob Casey, the ultimate liar and hypocrite, owns the same thing in his personal portfolio,” McCormick added. “I did not own this.” [personally]this was a company I had the chance to lead.”
Casey campaign spokeswoman Maddie McDaniel accused McCormick of “betraying the people of Pennsylvania for personal gain.”
“David McCormick will say anything to cover up his betrayal of Pennsylvanians for profit, but the facts are clear: he invested millions of dollars directly into Chinese-made fentanyl and profited from the pain of Pennsylvanians,” McDaniel said.
“David McCormick decided to invest in a Chinese fentanyl company; Bob Casey did not,” McDaniel’s statement continued.
Supporters at McCormick’s “Supporting Families” event in Bucks County on Tuesday asked how McCormick’s campaign would respond to such attacks from the Casey camp.
“I don’t want to make my entire campaign a reaction to lies my opponent tells me, because I’m afraid that’s the kind of game the opposition wants me to play,” McCormick said.
