You are now a racist if you pair the words “Chinese” or “Wuhan” with “coronavirus.” That’s the new accusation coming from Liberal members of Congress. It’s so racist, in fact, that some say they are ashamed to serve alongside Republican legislators that do so.
Yes, you read this correctly. It is racist for Republicans to label a virus by the name of the city or country from where it comes.
Perhaps it’s coincidence, but the new push by Democrats and the mainstream media to label GOP members racist for identifying where COVID-19 was unleashed began when Republicans started using the same terms these very media outlets have used all year. The effort also comes as Democrats are exploiting President Trump’s handling of the pandemic to politically bludgeon him.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy committed the offense Tuesday when he tweeted that up-to-date information about the “Chinese coronavirus” could be found on the Centers for Disease Control website. Democratic leaders skewered him for the wording of his public service announcement.
“I’m embarrassed to be his colleague,” Democratic National Committee Vice Chairwoman and New York Rep. Grace Meng said. “I’m so disgusted. This labeling of the illness is embarrassing, disrespectful, offensive, and downright disgusting. It is shameful. The minority leader must immediately apologize.”
Democratic race-baiter Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota pounced too. “Viruses don’t have nationalities,” she said. “This is racist.” California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris also slammed McCarthy: “Calling it the ‘Chinese coronavirus’ isn’t just racist, it’s dangerous,” she said. “Delete this tweet — now. It’s beneath the office of a member of Congress, let alone a party leader.”
Some Democrats went even further to say that the racist label for COVID-19 is proof of the Trump Administration’s incompetence. Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California tweeted that McCarthy’s tweet is emblematic of why President Trump is personally to blame for the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.
“One reason [POTUS] & his enablers failed to contain COVID-19 is due to the myopic focus on China,” he tweeted. “Calling it Chinese coronavirus is scientifically wrong & as stupid as calling it the Italian coronavirus.”
While so many Liberal Democrats took their best shots, it’s tough to out-absurd Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On Instagram Live, she urged followers to overcome the racism of COVID-19 by eating at Chinese restaurants and welcoming more illegal immigrants.
“There’s a lot of restaurants that are feeling the pain of racism,“ she said. “People are literally not patroning [sic] Chinese restaurants. They’re not patroning [sic] Asian restaurants because of just straight-up racism around the coronavirus.”
AOC probably meant “patronizing.”
Then, despite representing a country that is trying to contain and eradicate a rapidly spreading pandemic, Ortega-Cortez said the government should open — not close— the Southern border. “Disincentivizing our immigrant neighbors from seeking health care is wrong. Health care is a human right for all people. Coronavirus doesn’t care if you’re documented or undocumented.”
Of course, without attention from the mainstream media, these accusations of coronavirus racism inside the GOP would flop. But the press ran with it too.
Also on Tuesday, The Washington Post published an op-ed titled, “The Two Reasons Administration Officials and Trump Allies Are Linking The Coronavirus To China.” The piece claims that the “sudden push” is part of “a geopolitical hedge” and a way “to deflect blame away from the administration.”
Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona thought he was doing the right thing when he announced that he and three members of his staff would self-quarantine because they came into contact with the CPAC attendee who was hospitalized with the “Wuhan Virus.” He was shocked by the ripping he too received in the Twitterverse and media.
The Washington Post responded with a separate article newspaper headlined, “Is It Racist To Call Coronavirus The ‘Wuhan Virus’? GOP Congressman’s Self-Quarantine Tweet Sparks A Debate.”
Becket Adams of the Washington Examiner wasn’t having it. He ripped The Washington Post’s conveniently timed, agenda-driven hypocrisy.
Adams reported that the Washington Post published a hard news report on January 21st titled, “First U.S. case of potentially deadly Chinese coronavirus confirmed in Washington state.” A January 24th Post report was titled, “Scientists are unraveling the Chinese coronavirus with unprecedented speed and openness.”
Adams also calls out other major news organizations, including the New York Times, The Guardian and NBC for condemning the same terms as racist that they had been using in their own reporting. He could probably write a book full of examples, but the ones he does cite make these news organizations look almost farcical.
“Some conservatives, including Mike Pompeo, Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Paul Gosar, are using the term ‘Wuhan virus’ to describe Covid-19,” the Times reported Tuesday. “Critics accused the term, which goes against the recommendation of health officials, of being racist and xenophobic.”
Adams wrote that he would “love to know what those same health officials thought” when The Times ran with this headline on January 21st: “The First U.S. Case Of The Wuhan Coronavirus Has Been Confirmed In Washington State.”
“Just astoundingly ignorant to have all major media refer to it as #WuhanVirus for months but somehow, today, you’ve decided that’s #racist,” said Rep. Gosar. Perhaps the most honest headline is the one from Adams’ column that exposed the other headlines:
“Media Discover ‘Wuhan Virus’ And ‘Chinese Coronavirus’ Are Racist Dog Whistles Just In Time To Attack Republicans.”