Download the all-new Republic app:

Published 18:40 IST, March 20th 2020

Jeremy Lin takes offence to Donald Trump terming coronavirus as ‘Chinese virus’

In one of his tweets, President Trump called COVID-19 the 'Chinese virus', which caused the 31-year-old Jeremy Lin to call out the President for his comment.

Reported by: Devika Pawar
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
null | Image: self
Advertisement

Former New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin called out US President Donald Trump for 'empowering racism' while the world is doing its best to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. In one of his tweets, Trump called COVID-19 the 'Chinese virus', which caused the 31-year-old basketballer to call out the President for his comment. Jeremy Lin played nine seasons with the NBA before joining the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), where he plays for the Beijing Ducks.  

Also read | Does LeBron James have coronavirus? Two Lakers players test positive for COVID-19

Advertisement

Donald Trump Chinese virus comment causes Jeremy Lin to accuse the President of racism

Also read | NBA players with coronavirus: Marcus Smart confirms testing positive for COVID-19 through Twitter video

Jeremy Lin calls President Donald Trump out for his 'Chinese Virus' comments

While many people supported Jeremy Lin's response, a lot of people thought the tweet was factual in nature. People replied to Jeremy Lin's tweet, explaining to the CBA player that as many publications called it the 'Wuhan virus' before using coronavirus or COVID-19.  Some people called out Lin for responding only when Asians were discriminated against, while he ignored racist comments made towards black people in Amerca. 

Advertisement

Also read | NBA players with coronavirus: Two Lakers players test positive for COVID-19

Jeremy Lin donated $150,000 to help with the coronavirus outbreak

While Lin pledged to donate $150,000 dollars, he also donated 1 million Chinese yuan separately. He donated the $150,000 to UNICEF and the remaining to a Chinese foundation. He even made an Instagram post, asking people to take care and spoke about making changes as people. 

Advertisement

There are currently ten NBA players with coronavirus. Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert was the first one to test positive, followed by his teammate Donovan Mitchell and Detroit Pistons Christian Wood. This week, Kevin Durant and three other Nets players tested positive for the virus. On Thursday (Friday IST), Celtics' Marcus Smart and two Lakers players were also diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Also read | NBA players with coronavirus: Kevin Durant tests positive for coronavirus

Advertisement

18:40 IST, March 20th 2020