Chinese-American CBS reporter says White House official made overtly racist coronavirus joke to her face
17 March 2020
A Chinese-American reporter was shocked by a racist term for the coronavirus used by a White House official.
Weijia Jiang, the White House correspondent for CBS News, tweeted out the revelation Tuesday morning and wondered what terms President Donald Trump’s team uses for the virus in private.
“This morning a White House official referred to #Coronavirus as the ‘Kung-Flu’ to my face,” Jiang tweeted. “Makes me wonder what they’re calling it behind my back.”
The reporter’s Twitter biography indicates she was born in China and raised in West Virginia.
Trump and other Republicans have faced criticism for using racially loaded terms to point out the virus originated in Wuhan, China, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and others have suggested the nation face some consequences for the COVID-19 outbreak.