As the crisis surrounding the Coronavirus continues across the United States, with more curfews enacted, stores closed, and public events cancelled, the real controversy is President Trump Tweeting out about the “China Virus.”
Just five days ago, professional journalists/racial advocacy groups/Democrats were aghast Rep. Paul Gosar would call it the “Wuhan Virus,” with House Leader Nancy Pelosi demanding he apologize at once for this egregious act of bigotry.
Pelosi joins Asian American lawmakers in demanding McCarthy apology for 'bigoted' tweet, by Carla Marinucci, Politico, March 10, 2020
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is taking heat for calling Covid-19 the “Chinese coronavirus'' in a recent tweet — a reference that prompted the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to demand an apology Tuesday.
“Calling the 2019 novel coronavirus the ‘Chinese’ or ‘Wuhan’ coronavirus is as descriptive as calling it the ‘CPAC coronavirus’ — that is to say not descriptive at all,’’ CAPAC Chairwoman Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, said in a statement. “Worse, it’s harmful.’’
The California Democrat, of Monterey Park, accused McCarthy of “stoking xenophobia.''
Pelosi called on McCarthy to "delete this tweet and apologize immediately."
"Bigoted statements which spread misinformation and blame Asians and the Asian American community for #coronavirus make us all less safe," she said on Twitter.
Chu and the Asian Pacific American Caucus also directed harsh criticism at Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for repeatedly calling the coronavirus the “Wuhan virus.” In a tweet posted earlier this week, Gosar wrote: “Just astoundingly ignorant to have all major media refer to it as #WuhanVirus for months but somehow, today, you’ve decided that’s #racist. If you think this virus cares about your race you probably work for or watch MSNBC. Wuhan Virus. Wuhan Virus. Wuhan Virus.”
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Native American Caucus, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus have similarly called on McCarthy and Gozar to apologize.
Chu’s expression of outrage comes on the heels of a Sacramento Bee editorial also demanding “Kevin McCarthy must apologize for offensive coronavirus tweet.’’ The Tuesday op-ed argued that “the framing may reflect a desire to use the coronavirus as an excuse to justify President Donald Trump’s ongoing crackdown on immigrants from certain countries.”
But now President Trump has dumped the regional label for the disease and instead noticed it came from China. He Tweeted:
“The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”
Yes, President Trump correctly identified the nation this devastating virus originated in, one he attempted to stop from reaching the USA back in late January 2020 when he issued an order restricting travel from China into America [Trump Administration Restricts Entry Into U.S. From China: The travel disruption sent shocks through the stock market and rattled industries that depend on the flow of goods and people between the world’s two largest economies, by Michael Corkery, New York Times, January 31, 2020].
The Left immediately went into action, attacking Trump as a racist, xenophobe and worse:
There it is. I’ve been deathly afraid of this exact moment where Trump turns to racism and xenophobia and calls COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus.” We are in deep trouble as a nation now that President of the United States makes the conscious decision to go down this dark path of hate.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 16, 2020
Any journalist who would make up a name for COVID-19 and refer to it as “the Chinese Virus” would immediately be called out for xenophobia. Not sure why anyone would consider this statement from the president to be acceptable. It helps no one. Hurtful to many. https://t.co/4B2JkjMjUd
— Bob Segall (@BobSegallWTHR) March 17, 2020
It’s not the Chinese Virus
— David Leavitt 🎮🎲🧙♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) March 17, 2020
It’s the Trump Virus 🦠 #TrumpVirus
David Rothschild, an economist with 53,000 followers, Tweeted: “Cool, back to the racism again. That will stop this virus!”
Actually, had President Trump enacted a total travel ban from China in late January 2020, this would have stopped the virus from coming to America. Now, individuals within the European Union, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and even Canada are closing their borders to protect their citizens from the spread of the China Virus. Is this racist? No, it’s prudent.
And, to once again borrow a phrase from Enoch Powell: “The supreme function of statesmanship is to guard against preventable evils.”
When President Trump correctly calls the coronavirus the China Virus, it is labeled “racism” by Democrats, the corporate media, and anti-white racial advocacy groups in America, because this geographic nomenclature isolates the origin of the problem: not just Wuhan, but China.
And in our current paradigm, where white people are blamed for all the problems in this world, this language is a direct violation of maintaining the status quo.
So, let’s all join in embracing the term “China Virus” and drop calling the coronavirus... the coronavirus.
