Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson this week that President Donald Trump should “force” China to forgive America’s debt as the coronavirus outbreak threatens to crash the economy.
“The coronavirus is a Chinese virus, no matter what they are telling you,” Carlson said on his show Monday night, according to the Washington Examiner. “It originated in China and was able to spread to the rest of the world because the Chinese government hid the truth of what was happening early in the outbreak from the rest of the world. They lied about it, and that caused the terrible consequences we are watching now. You can blame China for that.”
Banks replied, “We need to start by forcing China to pay the burden and the cost incurred on the United States of America due to the coronavirus. I think there are many ways that we can do that.”
The congressman suggested that “the president could force China to relieve a great amount of American debt. He could institute tariffs on China and designate the funds from that into a coronavirus victim relief fund to pay the cost incurred on Americans and American taxpayers due to the negligence on China’s behalf that's led to the crisis in America today.”
He added, “I have no doubt that President Trump will do everything he can to hold China accountable for what they have caused on Americans today.”
Banks later tweeted: “As I told [Carlson] tonight on his show, [Trump] should force China to pay USA back for the havoc created by Coronavirus and a good place to start is significant debt forgiveness to pay down our national debt.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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