It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that all of the sudden prominent members of the GOP and conservative media are calling COVID-19, the “Chinese Coronavirus.” Donald Trump has constantly said what is happening with coronavirus isn’t our “fault.” So this would appear to be a way to clearly put the Chinese at fault and a side effect could be more bigotry against members of the Asian community.
And even while Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was suggesting people on the right (i.e. Trump) “spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem,” he had a huge graphic behind him at said “THE CHINESE CORONAVIRUS.” He referenced the controversy over naming it that saying “on the left the real worry is that you might use the wrong word to describe what’s happening to the country. It’s racist they are telling you to blame the most racist nation in the world for the spread of the virus.”
CNN’s Oliver Darcy adds: “While Carlson has taken coronavirus seriously, he also asked a guest about the conspiracy theory that the virus was created in a Chinese lab. And it’s impossible to ignore the racial overtones in his coverage…”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been more specific dubbing it the “Wuhan Virus.” CNBC writes:
Chinese foreign ministry said it was a “despicable practice” to call the virus the “Wuhan coronavirus.”
“Despite the fact that the WHO has officially named this novel type of coronavirus, (a) certain American politician, disrespecting science and the WHO decision, jumped at the first chance to stigmatize China and Wuhan with it. We condemn this despicable practice,” said Geng Shuang, a ministry spokesperson.