Senator joseph mccarthy created the media frenzy that began his anti-communist witch hunt by a. claiming he had a list of communists employed by the u. s. state department. b. accusing alger hiss of becoming a soviet spy. c. saying that there were spies in the u. s. army. d. urging the house un-american activities committee (huac) to hold hearings.

The correct answer is A.

The origins of McCarthyism lie in a speech given by Joe McCarthy in Wheel West Virginia in 1950. In this speech he claimed to have a list of 207 names of individuals working for the US government that were communist or had ties to the Soviet Union. This claim shook the nation, as it increased a sense of paranoia and fear that the American government may be filled with communists.