Ghost of McCarthyism still haunts Washington

Legacy lives on as US ideological hawks fabricate spy claims against Chinese

Parallels exist between the zealotry of Joseph McCarthy, the anticommunist firebrand in the US Senate of the 1950s, and the approach of some politicians in today's United States, according to a bestselling author.

At a webinar on Wednesday, Larry Tye spoke of the day when McCarthy made his name at a routine Republican function in Wheeling, West Virginia, on Feb 9, 1950.

"Joe McCarthy showed up with an enormous briefcase. He reached deep into the briefcase and pulled out sheets of paper, raised his hand into the air with great drama, and said, 'I have in my hand a list of more than 200 spies at our very own State Department, and I am going to name names'," said Tye, author of the 2020 book Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy.