Dr. Anthony Fauci has been criticized for a remark about COVID-19 that some have deemed to be “racist.”
When Donald Trump was president, he described COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.” Legacy media, politicians, and talking heads lashed out and condemned the term – calling it “racist” and “xenophobic.” There were articles declaring that calling COVID-19 the “Wuhan virus” is “inaccurate and xenophobic.” While in office, Trump was sued by the Chinese American Civil Rights Coalition for referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” and “Wuhan virus.”
One of President Joe Biden’s first executive orders condemned racism and xenophobia against Asians.
The Biden administration stated in January, “During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric has put Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) persons, families, communities, and businesses at risk.”
The order calls for members of the federal government to not reference the origin of COVID-19.
“The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin,” the order reads. “Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons. These actions defied the best practices and guidelines of public health officials and have caused significant harm to AAPI families and communities that must be addressed.”
This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci – the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden – made a statement about COVID-19 that made a reference to Wuhan, China.
During an appearance on Fox Business on Friday, Fauci – the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease – used the term “Wuhan strain” during the interview.
“You hear me talk a lot about boosters, and the reason I do is that if you look at the vaccination, we were vaccinated against the original, what we call ‘ancestral’ or ‘Wuhan strain,’ yet when you get antibodies from that vaccination and when you get boosted, the level of protection spills over to delta, alpha, beta and very likely will spill over to omicron,” Fauci said on “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.”
Reactions on Twitter slammed Fauci for using the origin of COVID-19 – which was decried as “racist” and “xenophobic” when uttered by the Trump administration.
Dave Rubin – host of “The Rubin Report” on BlazeTV – said, “Anthony Fauci is a racist.”
Robby Starbuck – a music video director and congressional candidate in Tennesse – tweeted, “I remember when they said it was racist to call COVID the Wuhan strain or the Wuhan Flu. Now Fauci admits it!”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) proclaimed, “Fauci finally said what we’ve always known: this was the Wuhan virus.”
Former CIA officer Bryan Dean Wright snarked, “Science has spoken.”
Conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller sarcastically mocked, “More rank bigotry and xenophobia from Fox News guests. There is no bottom.”
President Biden was also recently blasted as a “hypocrite” for banning travel from eight African nations after previously declaring that travel bans don’t work and accusing Trump of “xenophobia” for travel bans enacted during his administration.