Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) says he does not have a problem with Republicans calling the coronavirus the “Chinese Virus.”
A reporter asked Cornyn on Wednesday if he was okay with Republicans referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus,” and he said, “That’s where it came from.”
He continued to say that China is “to blame” for the virus:
“Well, I think China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats, and snakes, and dogs, and things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people.”
He added, “And that’s why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu And now the coronavirus.”
“So I think they have a fundamental problem, and I don’t object to geographically identifying where it’s coming from,” he said.
Watch his comments below:
Sen. John Cornyn: "China is to blame because the culture where people eat bats & snakes & dogs & things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that's why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine Flu." pic.twitter.com/N4TIlGFqAL
— The Hill (@thehill) March 18, 2020
When the reporter said that many people think calling it the “Chinese Virus” is racist, Cornyn said he did not feel the same way.
“Oh, I disagree… We’re not talking about Asians. We’re talking about China where these viruses emanate from and which have created this pandemic.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus.” When asked by a reporter why he has called it that, Trump said, “It comes from China, that’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.”
Some reporters were quick to note that MERS and the swine flu did not originate in China.