(WHTM) - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick is responding to allegations from Democrats that his previous career in business helped China and the output of fentanyl.

"I've been calling China a threat and adversary for more than 20 years," said McCormick, the former CEO of Bridgewater on This Week in Pennsylvania. "I've negotiated against the Chinese and the government as part of the National Security Team and I'm someone who's had a vision for where we should take our relationship with China. Senator (Bob) Casey has been in the Senate for 18 years and hasn't done anything in terms of the challenges coming from China. As the CEO of a large investment firm we invested 3% of our, it was a global firm, 3% of our portfolio in China. Most Americans have 30% of the products in their house manufactured in China. So I've laid out a vision for decoupling from China to make sure we're not dependent on China for things like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors."

Following McCormick's speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week, Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson TaNisha Cameron issued the following statement

“David McCormick tried to hide behind false attacks because he knows he can’t defend his record of investing millions in Chinese military companies, supporting an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, and funding China’s largest fentanyl producer. This November, Pennsylvanians will re-elect Senator Casey, a leader Pennsylvanians can trust to create jobs, fight fentanyl, and deliver for working families.”

McCormick's speech at the convention came days after he witnessed the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler. McCormick had been on the same stage earlier that day and nearly joined the former President leading up to the shooting.

"We were within an inch or less of losing President Trump, of him being killed which would've been really catastrophic whether you're a Republican or Democrat, catastrophic for the country to lose the leader of a party by assassination," said McCormick.

McCormick said people need to ensure that elections are settled at the ballot box and that political discourse isn't "dehumanizing or encourages violence."

"That's a statement across the board, that's for everybody involved in politics. And so, I think that's what everybody's processing right now and I think it's a powerful moment and I hope one that leads to change in a positive direction."

Polls in McCormick's race against Casey have consistently shown him trailing outside the margin of error. The former hedge fund CEO says he knew he was entering a tough race against the three-term incumbent Casey.

"He's been a career politician for 30 years," said McCormick. "So he's known across the state and ultimately I have to introduce myself to the voters of Pennsylvania and the more they get to know me the more that gap closes. And I expect it to close and to win in November."

Also on This Week in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairperson Sharif Street acknowledged there are members of the Pennsylvania delegation for the Democratic National Convention who do not want to see President Joe Biden on the ticket this fall.

"I haven't done a tally but there are people that believe that," said Street, who also represents a section of Philadelphia in the State Senate.

"It's hard to say," said Street when asked about the likelihood of Biden still being atop the party's ticket. "Whether he's the candidate or a different Democrat, we can look at the policies of the Biden-Harris administration have been extremely successful, very few people question that. What they question is first, President Biden's health and that's something he has to make an evaluation of."