In a hearing Thursday on “Discrimination and Violence against Asian-Americans,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler partly blamed the rise in attacks on Asian-Americans on lawmakers who “demonized China” by correctly referring to the coronavirus as Chinese in origin.
“It is important to recognize that this surge did not spontaneously arise only out of fears regarding the coronavirus pandemic,” Nadler said. “Some of this blame lies squarely on political leaders who have demonized China — both because of the virus and ongoing geopolitical tensions — and in turn Asian-Americans have fallen in harm’s way.”
The virus originated in China, much like the Spanish flu originated in Spain and the West Nile virus came from… you guessed it, the West Nile. These are facts, not demonization.
“Words have power. What we say matters. How we treat each other matters,” Nadler continued to blather. “The conversation we are having today is long overdue, and it is vital that Congress shine a light on this issue.”
It’s not vital; it’s political. What sparked Nadler’s virtue-signaling outburst was the mass shooting at Atlanta massage parlors last Tuesday in which 6 of the 8 killed were women of Asian heritage. But the disturbed shooter — a young white man named Robert Aaron Long — confessed and explained to police that his motive was not racial but an attempt to remove temptations of his sexual addiction.
The real demonization going on here is that Nadler and his fellow Democrats are exploiting the shooting to demonize supporters of former President Trump, who outraged Democrats by calling the coronavirus what it was — Chinese.