MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said on Thursday that “liberals and progressives and the media” shouldn’t focus on President Donald Trump’s calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” which he said is a distraction.
Trump has repeatedly called COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” because it was first identified in Wuhan, China despite critics saying that the phrase stigmatizes Chinese-Americans.
“Let me give liberals and Progressives and people in the media a tip here,” Scarborough said at the beginning of “Morning Joe” on Thursday, according to Mediaite. “He’s poking at you. He wants you to become outraged.”
The former congressman added that Trump would prefer people argue about the phrase than talk about a lack of tests or ventilators.
“He wants you to become outraged so you will talk about that instead of talking about tests, so you’ll talk about that instead of talking about ventilators,” Scarborough said.
“It’s called a rabbit trail. Yes, it is offensive but, again, we can talk about this in November when the election is in full force. This is all a distraction.”
Scarborough and co-host Mike Brzezinski also questioned Trump’s recent claim that he always took the coronavirus outbreak seriously despite calling it a “hoax” just days ago.
“The president said he knew it was coming,” Brzezinski said. “It’s almost worse when you look at it that way. That’s just malpractice. You know something like this is coming, and you do nothing. That’s what he’s telling the American people. He did nothing from the get-go.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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