Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of using "racist rhetoric" to draw attention away from the administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak.
She tweeted Wednesday:
"The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make tests widely available, and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis. Don't fall for it. Don't let your friends and family fall for it."
Trump and some other Republicans have repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as a "Chinese virus" because it was first identified in Wuhan, China. Democrats and others have criticized the phrase as racist, saying it stigmatizes Chinese-Americans.
"It's not racist at all," Trump said Wednesday, according to The Hill. "It comes from China, that's why. I want to be accurate."
He previously said, "China was putting out information, which was false, that our military gave this to them . . . That was false. And rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China, so I think it's a very accurate term."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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