Far-right radio personality Stew Peters ambushed Mark Meadows this week on his nightly internet program, asking the ardently pro-Trump former chief-of-staff why he has allegedly been hanging around “Chinese communists.”
The unexpectedly antagonistic questioning came as the ex-Trump official made his rounds in right-wing media to promote his new book, titled The Chief’s Chief.
“Back on November 19th, this show discovered a really concerning report,” Peters stated while citing a claim made by far-right website The National File. Meadows has “very close connections with Chinese communists through the ridiculously named Humpty Dumpty Institute as well as the CCP-tied Taihe Institute,” the host continued.
ADVERTISEMENT
The interview then turned awkward: “What were you doing with these Chinese communists, exactly?” Peters pointedly asked.
Although the MAGA loyalist fired back at the surprise grilling, Meadows notably also came clean on his loose affiliation with China-linked groups.
“Yeah, so the Humpty Dumpty Institute, I joined that actually in trying to work, not knowing any connections with China back when I was a freshman member of Congress. It was only as a freshman member of Congress, and then they didn’t have any affiliation,” he stated. “In fact, they continued to use my name after they were looking at a number of things—so I had to send them a letter to distance myself from them.”
Seemingly caught off-guard by the initial question, Meadows found himself on the defensive, attempting to prove he’s no wilting flower when it comes to China policy. “In terms of any connection with China, actually, I was actually on the China commission, holding China accountable during that time,” he declared. “I can tell you that there’s anyone who believes that China is our number-one threat, it’s me. And I will continue to believe that.”
Nevertheless, throughout the 40-minute interview Peters remained unconvinced and highly skeptical of Meadows.
“Well, it’s obvious that China is attacking us,” the shock jock said. “I mean, given the China virus, Americans are rightly concerned, if it seems that the infiltration had risen, all the way to your level, the chief-of-staff of the president of the United States.”
To that point, Meadows responded: “Sure.”
Meadows’ conservative media book tour has been something of a train wreck thus far.
Ahead of the memoir’s Dec. 7 shelf date, the Guardian this week reported that Meadows recalls in the book how former President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 three days before his first debate with Joe Biden. Trump released a statement on Wednesday morning denying the claim and calling it “fake news.”
In response, Meadows undermined his own book during a Wednesday evening interview with Newsmax. “I believe the president said it’s ‘fake news.’ What’s the story here?” host Rob Schmitt asked. “Well, the president’s right, it’s fake news,” Meadows replied.
Further attempting to appease his former boss, Meadows claimed the pre-debate COVID test was a “false positive,” and that two subsequent tests “showed he didn’t have COVID during the debate.” Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19 a week later.
Watch above, via Rumble, starting at the 30-minute point.
