NE Atlanta News

A 9th district voter is concerned about a political candidate’s business relationship with a global asset manager, which invests in the alleged Chinese Communist Party-controlled search engine Baidu.

Andrew Clyde, who is running for the U.S. House 9th district on the Republican ballot, is worth more than $10 million in total assets and unearned income. Among those assets are an estimated $115,000 and $300,000 in Oakmark Funds, according to his financial disclosure report filed on May 9, 2020 with the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I have no problem with Clyde building wealth for himself,” said Stanford Garey. “That's great. My major concern as a ninth district voter is his investments in two Oakmark funds, which says something about Clyde’s judgment and values because Oakmark Funds, according to media reports, has made major investments in Baidu, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled search engine.”

The Oakmark International Fund contains 2,037 shares of Baidu valued at $205,331, according to Oakmark Funds’ semi-annual March 31, 2020 report.

“What that tells me is Clyde is comfortable building wealth from a company run by the Communist Party of China, which is widely known for squashing free speech, pro-democracy information and the press,” Garey told the NE Atlanta News.

Clyde did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

All U.S. Congressional candidates are required by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to submit a financial disclosure report, which provides the public with a look at how a candidate makes money and potentially what financial interests they have that may influence decision-making.

“It will influence everything down to trade and foreign policy,” said Garey in an interview. “We have to draw a line in my view with anybody who affiliates with China. You have to pick a side, especially after this pandemic because no one really knows if China unleashed the coronavirus or not. All I know is that the United States is now $27 trillion in debt in a matter of this half-year when we were just hovering a little bit over 20. It's very scary as an American citizen for not only my generation but future generations to come.”

The financial disclosure report, which spans from January 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020, also revealed that Clyde owns two gun armories, a real estate investment property and has bank accounts at Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU).

“As a candidate, his investments in Oakmark funds reassured my possible conceptions that he is a Paul Ryan, globalist-type of Republican where they campaign for small government but, once elected, they act like socialists and kowtow to the globalist party line along with the UN, NATO and even the Democratic party where there's an unholy alliance every single time that something has to be passed,” Garey said. “Next thing you know, we get more government taking over our rights and more money out of our pockets. That's why we have to take this hard stance against China because we can slowly see them taking over every aspect of our lives. Soon, eventually, they will take over the US dollar, and who knows what's going to stop them then?”