On Tuesday Morning, a CBS News correspondent tweeted that a White House official referred to COVID-19 as the “Kung Flu.”
“This morning a White House official referred to #Coronavirus as the ‘Kung Flu’ to my face,” Weijia Jiang, the CBS News, correspondent tweeted. “Makes me wonder what they’re calling it behind my back.
This morning at a news conference, President Trump called COVID-19 the Chinese virus numerous times and told reporters he also did not consider the term “kung flu” virus racist.
President Trump is already under fire for calling the virus the Chinese Virus in a tweet, a name which the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization advised against using.
Public officials and fellow television correspondents replied to Jiang’s tweet offering words of support and condemning the actions of the White House official.
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“Gross,” Joy Reid tweeted. “Awful. Unbecoming for a presidential administration.”
“They’re not serious about this,” Rep Eric Swalwell (CA) tweeted. “And I’m sorry you were subjected to that.”
He then clarified that he meant that that the official was not serious about handling the coronavirus.
The Asian American Journalists Association also condemned the official’s action in a tweet.
“There has been a torrent of hurtful and racist remarks and actions targeted at Americans of Asian descent amid the coronavirus outbreak. AAJA denounces racism and xenophobia, and stands by our community and our members, including our very own @weijia,” AAJA wrote.
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