Republican delegates mocked colleague’s accent, implied he was a Chinese spy

Two Republican state lawmakers are being urged to apologize and take down a social media video that mocks a Chinese-born lawmaker and suggests he is a communist spy.

Del. Mark Fisher and Del. Brian Chisholm posted a 13-minute video on social media focused on Del. Chao Wu, a Democrat representing parts of Howard and Montgomery counties. Throughout the video, they engage in racist stereotypes and insinuate that Wu has communist sympathies.

“There’s something not right here,” Fisher says as he labels one of Wu’s bills “the Dumbest Bill in America,” one of their recurring social media features.

The focus is a 2025 bill from Wu that would have required companies that are developing generative artificial intelligence systems to disclose information about the data used to train them. The bill, which was cosponsored by half a dozen lawmakers, did not pass.

Fisher and Chisholm suggest in the video that the bill was an attempt to force companies to give up their “trade secrets” and imply that Wu sponsored it to help China.

Chisholm, in a mocking Chinese accent, invokes a proverb: “Only catch fish in muddy water.”

Later in the video, the two play a clip from the bill’s hearing and mock Wu’s accent.

“How did this guy win from Howard County?” Fisher says. “You can barely understand what he’s saying.”

They also say it is “sketchy” that Wu often uses a Mac laptop instead of a PC laptop that most lawmakers use.

Wu told The Banner that the video is a hurtful example of continued discrimination against Asian Americans from lawmakers who have had little success in the legislature.

“Instead of trying to find a solution that would be acceptable to the majority, Republicans blame other people for their own failure and blame me for being a Chinese spy,” Wu said.

The allegation that he’s a spy is “not a truth, not a fact,” Wu said.

Wu, who was born in Yingshan County, Hubei, China, holds a doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has worked as an engineer and data scientist, and he served on the Howard County Board of Education before being elected to the House of Delegates in 2022.

House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk wrote in a letter to Chisholm and Fisher that she had “profound disappointment” in the way they treated Wu and called on them to offer a “sincere apology.” She also urged them to take the video down.

“Reducing a colleague to harmful stereotypes, questioning his loyalty because of where he was born, and mocking the way he speaks is disrespectful and unbecoming of anyone entrusted with public service,” Peña-Melnyk wrote. “It echoes a long and painful history of discrimination that has no place in Maryland or in the House of Delegates.”

Fisher responded to requests for comment by sharing a link to a social media post from the far-right Maryland Freedom Caucus — of which the Calvert County delegate is a member — that criticizes Peña-Melnyk for “sending private letters policing podcasts and using CCP-style speech tactics” against caucus members.

Chisholm, who represents Anne Arundel County and is also a Freedom Caucus member, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Maryland Legislative Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus said in a statement that it “strongly condemns racist remarks and attacks by two House members against a member of our caucus.”

The caucus said the video is the latest example of “witch-hunting against Asian Americans” amid escalating tensions between the United States and China.

“As a data scientist, Delegate Chao Wu is an asset to our legislative work. One can debate the merit of a bill without resorting to racist name-calling and unfounded accusations,” said Del. Lily Qi, a Montgomery County Democrat and the caucus chair, who was also born in China. “Xenophobia and bigotry have no place in the Maryland legislature.”

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, a Democrat who was born in India, posted on social media that Wu’s bill wasn’t radical, as the two delegates claimed.

“What is radical is smearing an Asian American legislator as a ‘Chinese communist’ and mocking the way he speaks because you disagree with him,” Miller posted. “That kind of racist rhetoric says far more about you than it does about [Wu].”

Wu said he’s been grateful for the support from his colleagues in the legislature. He plans to keep focusing on ways to improve education and infrastructure in the state and prepare for emerging technologies.

He’s not expecting a call from Chisholm or Fisher.

But if they do ring, Wu plans to advise them: “Find some issues that you can find a solution for. Don’t do name-calling. I’m still your colleague. Be a nice person.”