Judy Chu. | Al Drago/Getty Images
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.’’
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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.”
Brittany Martinez, a spokesperson for McCarthy, defended the lawmaker’s use of the term, saying it's been in common use by media — though she pointed to a trio of examples dating back to January, before the outbreak was widespread.
“For weeks, this term has been widely used by established media outlets to describe the virus," Martinez said. "But this week, Democrat lawmakers and the same media outlets who used the term in the past have decided it is 'racist' to do so. During a time when the Chinese Communist Party of China is knowingly spreading misinformation, we must be honest with China’s severe lack of transparency, which without question created a worse health problem for the world to deal with.”
Part of CAPAC's frustration stems from how McCarthy’s tweet came nearly two weeks after its members sent a letter to every House member, “urging them to not stoke xenophobia or spread misinformation, citing the rise in racial prejudice and violent attacks against Asian Americans in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar later committed to Chu “to no longer reference a specific location or country when referring to COVID-19, acknowledging that it puts people at risk of being discriminated against because of ethnicity,’’ the caucus said.
And those sentiments of concern, the caucus said, were echoed by CDC Director Robert Redfield, who has since reaffirmed that it is inappropriate to refer to Covid-19 as “Chinese coronavirus.”
Both the CDC and World Health Organization websites caution against the use of geographic or ethnic names tied to a disease name to avoid stigma and xenophobia.
"Already, we are seeing Asian American children beaten in school, families prejudiced against, and small businesses forced to close,'' Chu said in her statement. "The Trump administration’s top health officials have made it clear that Leader McCarthy’s words are dangerous, so my question to him is ‘Why would you reject the Trump Administration’s guidance?’"
Both McCarthy and Gosar "should immediately apologize for using a public health crisis to push a nativist and xenophobic agenda that puts Americans’ lives in danger,'' she said. "I urge them to listen to the advice of actual experts and only refer to COVID-19 by its official names.”
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March 11, 2020 at 12:40PM
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Pelosi joins Asian American lawmakers in demanding McCarthy apology for 'bigoted' tweet - POLITICO
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