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President Donald Trump is getting a backlash for saying Asian Americans are angry at China for his handling of the pandemic, a day after he left a press conference after telling an Asian-American journalist to “ask China “in response to a question.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed that the Chinese Americans are even more upset with China.
“Asian Americans are VERY angry about what China has done to our country and the world,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Chinese Americans are the most angry of all. I do not blame them! “
The comments prompted several Asian Americans to speak, including Representative Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, who accused the president of using “racist” rhetoric to distract himself from his own mishandling of the virus. And many others pointed out that the president does not speak for Asian Americans.
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Meng, in recent weeks, has accused some Republican Party officials, including the president, of using China or Asian Americans as scapegoats “instead of dealing with the issue at hand.”
At Monday’s press conference, CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang pressured Trump on why he continues to raise the capacity of the US coronavirus test. USA Although the president said that EE. USA It has the “highest capacity”, the country leads in gross testing figures, but lags behind several countries, including Iceland and Italy, in per capita testing.
“Why is it a global competition for you if Americans continue to lose their lives every day and continue to see more cases every day?” Jiang asked Trump.
In response, the president said, “they are losing their lives in all parts of the world and perhaps that is a question they should ask China.”
CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins tried to allow Jiang to follow up.
“Sir, why are you telling me that specifically?” Jiang said.
Trump then tried to pass White House PBS correspondent Newshour Yamiche Alcindor, but Alcindor gave the floor to Collins, prompting the president to abruptly end the press conference.
Many accused Trump of once again mixing Asian Americans with China, putting the racial group at risk. The American Asian community has experienced an increase in anti-Asian sentiment and hate attacks since the start of the pandemic.
The recent incidents occurred in the context of a campaign strategy by Republican candidates to aggressively attack Beijing and link Democratic opponents with China. A 57-page memo released by the Republican National Senate Committee urged the candidates to accuse Democrats of being “soft on China” and say that the Republican Party would instead sanction the country.
“China caused this pandemic by covering it up, lying and hoarding the global supply of medical equipment,” the memo says, in part.
However, Trump himself has praised China for how it has handled the virus.
“I just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China,” he wrote in an earlier tweet. “We discussed in great detail the CoronaVirus that is devastating large parts of our planet. China has been through a lot and has developed a strong understanding of the virus. We are working closely together. Much respect!”
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