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Trump Abruptly Stops Calling Coronavirus ‘Chinese Virus’ At Daily Press Briefing

Try and keep up, xenophobes.

Mar 23, 2020,08:22pm EDT

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/20...6d9def47ad


Topline: After days of calling coronavirus the “Chinese virus” despite advice from his own public health aides and the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump abruptly stopped using the term for the first time during a White House press conference on Monday.

For days, Trump has referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” even though public health experts and the WHO have said naming viruses after geographic locations or groups of people is inaccurate, inappropriate and could unnecessarily stigmatize Asian-Americans and people from China.

In the face of such criticism, Trump doubled down on using the label and insisted it isn’t racist because “it comes from China.”
But for the first time on Monday, Trump appeared to reverse course and didn’t use it when referring to the disease.

“It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world. They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form,” Trump tweeted before his daily White House Press conference.

Trump did not acknowledge the change nor did he apologize for using the term in the first place.

Key background: Asian-Americans have reported incidents of racism and xenophobia since the outbreak began, and they say Trump’s insistence on using the term “Chinese virus” stokes even more hatred against them.

While the first cases of the virus were reported in China, the WHO issued new guidelines in 2015 that advise against naming infectious diseases after geographic locations because doing so could cause “unintended negative impacts by stigmatizing certain communities.”

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