Trump defends referring to coronavirus as ‘the Chinese virus’

President Trump on Tuesday defended his referring to the coronavirus as “the Chinese virus,” calling it a “very accurate term.”
Trump stood by his use of the phrase — which critics say is loaded with troubling racist connotations — as a way of going tit-for-tat with China.

“China was putting out information which was false that our military gave this to them. That was false,” Trump told reporters Tuesday in a White House briefing. “Rather than having an argument, I said, ‘I have to call it where it came from, it did come from China.’

“So I think it’s a very accurate term.”

Since originating in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, the coronavirus has infected over 190,000 people worldwide as of Tuesday afternoon, killing more than 7,500.