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After President Donald Trump called the novel coronavirus “the Chinese Virus” in a tweet Monday, an evangelical leader responded by calling the label “unacceptable,” warning that it “instigates blame, racism, and hatred against Asians.”
On Monday, Trump tweeted his confidence in American industries before calling the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19, “the Chinese Virus.”
“The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”
In a reply, Eugene Cho, a former pastor of a Seattle church who was just tapped to begin leading a large Christian nonprofit called Bread for the World in July, suggested that calling the coronavirus the "Chinese virus" could be dangerous. Cho said in an interview Monday that he was not speaking on behalf of the Washington-based hunger and poverty-fighting organization and is still living in Seattle, one of the epicenters of the outbreaks in the United States.
"Mr. President: This is not acceptable," he wrote in his tweet. "Calling it the "Chinese virus" only instigates blame, racism, and hatred against Asians - here and abroad. We need leadership that speaks clearly against racism; Leadership that brings the nation and world together. Not further divides."
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