White House press secretary Jen Psaki accused former President Donald Trump of fueling a rise in crimes against Asian-Americans by referring to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan virus.”
Psaki blamed Trump for the rise in attacks against Asian-Americans during the White House press briefing.
She said:
I think that there’s no question that some of the damaging rhetoric that we saw during the prior administration, calling COVID the Wuhan virus or other things, led to perceptions of the Asian-American community that are inaccurate, unfair … has elevated threats against Asian-Americans and we’re seeing that around the country.
Former President Trump previously referred to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan virus,” the “Chinese virus” sparked rage from corporate media outlets who accused him of being racist.
A study released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino recently noted a 150 percent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020.
Biden criticized the attacks during his address to the nation about the coronavirus on Thursday.
“It’s wrong, it’s un-American, and it must stop,” he said.
At no point in his speech did President Biden criticize China for failing to stop the spread of the virus and misleading scientists about its dangers.