Published 10:02 IST, March 19th 2020
Trump defends 'Chinese virus' term, says "it comes from China, it's not racist at all"
US President Donald Trump defended his calling of coronavirus as the "Chinese virus", saying the term is "not racist" as the viral strain originated in China.
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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his calling of coronavirus as the "Chinese virus", saying the term is "not racist" as the viral strain originated in China. Trump claimed it was China who first alleged that the virus was caused by American army.
"Because it comes from China, it's not racist at all. It comes from China. I want to be accurate," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference when asked about the allegations that the use of the term "Chinese virus" is racist and it has resulted in attacks on Chinese-Americans in the country. "China tried to say...(Coronavirus) was caused by American soldiers. That can't happen. It's not going to happen as long as I'm president. It comes from China," he said.
WATCH: @Yamiche asked the president if using the term "Chinese virus" to describe novel coronavirus puts Asian Americans at risk of being targeted.
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 18, 2020
President Trump: "No, not at all. I think they probably would agree with it 100%." pic.twitter.com/BGHe10PFQ0
Replying to a question, Trump said he is not blaming China for coronavirus, he is only stating the fact that it originated there. At the same time, he said that China should have been more transparent and forthcoming in sharing the information and data related to coronavirus. Early in the morning, Trump said he always treated the "Chinese virus" very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning.
Over the past few days, Trump has increasingly been using the term "Chinese virus". "I would like to begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus," he said at the beginning of his press conference.
'Money will soon be coming'
As the deadly coronavirus continues to tighten its grip worldwide and has started impacting businesses to the country’s GDP, United States President Donald Trump has assured Americans who are still out of their homes for work, that “money will be coming” to them. In a tweet on March 18, Trump not only repeated his claim of COVID-19 which originated in the Chinese province of Wuhan as the “Chinese Virus” but has also said that the pathogen’s onslaught is not the fault of his country’s citizens.
In a bid to stem the easily spread coronavirus, like governments of many other countries, the Trump administration has also introduced certain precautionary measures such as shutting of schools, colleges, hotels, and bars. However, the US President has said that he will “protect” the medical security of people and has also declared that he would share “very important” news about the COVID-19 or “Chinese Virus” in a conference later today which he has received from the FDA.
(With PTI inputs)
10:02 IST, March 19th 2020