House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is blasting what she called “bigoted statements which spread misinformation and blamed Asians and the Asian American community for coronavirus.”
She said in a tweet that such statements makes us “all less safe” and called on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to apologize immediately and to delete his tweet which calls COVID-19 the “Chinese Coronavirus.”
Pelosi’s tweet comes after the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) also called for an apology from McCarthy, as well as Rep. Paul Gosar for doing the same thing.
McCarthy, however, is standing behind his tweet. A spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle “We must be honest with China’s severe lack of transparency.”
McCarthy’s actions are in direct contradiction of the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salon reported that CDC Robert Redfield said the virus is no longer confined to China and that it would be inappropriate to call it the “Chinese Coronavirus.”
President Trump, himself, has labeled the virus the “China virus,” and last night called it the “foreign virus.” Both names have been criticized as being harmful.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
