In a House hearing on Thursday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley claimed that the “rapid spreading of racism” since the China-originated coronavirus outbreak is particularly “painful” for American immigrants.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen not only the spreading of the virus, but also a rapid spreading of racism and xenophobia,” Pressley said. “We have witnessed at the highest levels, in fact, the Republican Party fanning irresponsibly these flames. One colleague tweeted that ‘Everything you need to know about the Chinese coronavirus.’”
“This painful rhetoric has consequences,” she added. “Restaurants across Boston’s Chinatown have seen up to an 80 percent drop in business, and I believe this has everything to do with the rapid spread of misinformation and paranoia. It is critical that we stand against these inciteful messages… in our communities.”
It is not racist to refer to the virus as Chinese. The only race-mongering demagoguery in evidence here is the Democrat insistence that it is.