Journalists are calling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Republicans racist for referring to the deadly COVID-19 as the "Wuhan virus," as the Chinese regime attempts to not only deny the origin of the coronavirus but blame the United States for its spread.
Pompeo referred to the coronavirus as "Wuhan virus" in a March 5 press conference and in interviews the following day. Journalists accused Rep. Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.) of racism for using the term, even as the congressman placed himself in self-quarantine after being exposed to the virus.
Pompeo's use of "Wuhan virus" was a direct rebuke of the Chinese Communist Party, which has begun to deny that the virus originated in China, even though it admitted as much in the early stages of the outbreak.
French newspaper La Croix reported Monday that the "relentless Chinese propaganda machine" has launched an effort to deny the Chinese origin of the coronavirus. "In the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, that China could have been singled out as the source of the coronavirus is unacceptable," the paper said. "Everything that links China to the virus must be questioned and disappear from all history books."