President Donald Trump has spent the past week trying to deal with the coronavirus as it has shut down much of the country and tanked the stock markets.
Recently, the president has been referring to the virus as the “Chinese virus,” and some critics have accused him of racism.
In a tweet on Wednesday, he wrote, “I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the ‘borders’ from China — against the wishes of almost all.”
I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the “borders” from China – against the wishes of almost all. Many lives were saved. The Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2020
During a press briefing on Wednesday, Trump was asked why he continues to refer to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus,” and he was unapologetic.
“Why do you keep using this?” the reporter asked.
The president said, “Because it comes from China, it’s not racist at all. No, not at all. It comes from China, that’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.”
Asked if he is concerned about Chinese-Americans in the country, Trump responded, “I have great love for all of the people from our country, but as you know, China tried to say at one point — maybe they stopped now — that it was caused by American soldiers. That can’t happen, it’s not going to happen, not as long as I’m president. It comes from China.”
Here’s that clip:
"Why do you keep calling this the Chinese Virus?"
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 18, 2020
"Because it comes from China, it's not racist at all," says @realdonaldtrump pic.twitter.com/3PCpUJX6wf
The Chinese government reportedly previously tried to hide the extent of the coronavirus from the world and allegedly took steps to stop experts from spreading information about the virus.
While the virus originated in China, it has become an American problem over the past few weeks. The Trump administration has made a lot of decisions to fight the virus and their latest plan is a massive cash influx into the economy as the stock market crumbles.