He said he feared that, if vaccines were rolled out and enough Americans took them, by 2023 or 2024 people would be spoiling for a fight with China as the one legitimated enemy.

Conditional prediction. First check the condition: COVID vaccines rolled out in the US and a large share of Americans took them by 2021-2022. If the condition failed, the claim cannot be resolved. If it held, judge US public sentiment in 2023-2024. True: polls show a broad public appetite for confrontation with China, with China named as the main enemy and majority or near-majority support for aggressive or military action against it, and the 'one legitimated enemy' framing is reflected in public and political consensus. Mostly true: China clearly became the top-named enemy, with record hostility and strong support for hardline policy, but no evident appetite for armed conflict. Mixed: hostility was high, but views were divided and there was no clear push for a fight. Mostly false: views of China were negative, but the public was not eager for confrontation, and other foes, such as Russia, were seen as similarly legitimate enemies. False: American hostility toward China fell or stayed modest in 2023-2024.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 The Year in Review: 2023's Most Notable Findings Gallup · 25 December 2023

   “Despite efforts to quell those tensions throughout 2023, Americans perceive China as the No. 1 enemy to the U.S. Not long ago, Russia (in 2019) and North Korea (in 2018) earned that status among the U.S. public”

2. E2 2. China’s relationship with the U.S. Pew Research Center · 1 May 2024

   “Around four-in-ten Americans (42%) say China is an enemy of the U.S. This is fewer than the 50% who describe China as a competitor but a slight increase from the 38% of Americans who described China as an enemy last year.”

Gallup's 2023 review reports Americans named China as the No. 1 enemy of the U.S., displacing Russia and North Korea from earlier years (E1). Pew's 2024 survey found 42% of Americans called China an enemy, up from 38%, but a larger 50% described it as a competitor rather than an enemy (E2). The evidence shows elevated hostility but divided views and no documented majority appetite for military confrontation or a consensus 'one legitimated enemy' framing, which fits the mixed criterion; the vaccine condition is not directly documented in the evidence and is treated as met.