President Donald Trump kicked off his latest coronavirus task force press conference on Thursday by once again referring to the pandemic as the “Chinese virus,” a term which has been a lightening rod of controversy in recent days.
On Wednesday, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” star Lana Condor took a very strong stance against POTUS, saying his rhetoric is putting the Asian-American community in “danger.”
“You have no idea the ramifications your racist words and actions have on the Asian-American community,” she tweeted. “You simply cannot even fathom the danger you are putting our community in. How dare you. You should be ashamed of yourself. You call yourself a leader? You know what leaders do? They LEAD by setting good examples and ACTION. Something we’ve yet to see you do.”
“You need to take notes on Chinese billionaire Jack Ma who is ACTUALLY leading — by donating tests and millions of masks to AMERICA because you haven’t,” she continued. “Please. Be Better. So we aren’t afraid to leave our house in fear someone will verbally or physically abuse us because of your xenophobia.”
She added, “Be better. To wake up to your chaos is truly a nightmare. Please. Be better. Broken heart To my followers- be safe. I love you.”
Former NBA star Jeremy Lin also called out Trump earlier this week, saying anyone calling it the “Chinese virus” is spreading an “anti-Chinese message” which “only empowers more hate towards Asians.”
Retweeting one of Trump’s tweets, Lin added, “I wish you would powerfully support the vulnerable people that will suffer due to our mismanagement of this virus, including those that will be affected by the racism you’re empowering.”
When asked whether he believed calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” was racist on Wednesday, Trump said, “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.”
The White House later tweeted, “Spanish Flu. West Nile Virus. Zika. Ebola. All named for places. Before the media’s fake outrage, even CNN called it ‘Chinese Coronavirus.’ Those trying to divide us must stop rooting for America to fail and give Americans real info they need to get through the crisis.”
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