Lana Condor Begs Donald Trump To Stop Endangering Asians By Calling COVID-19 The ‘Chinese Virus’ – Perez Hilton

March 27, 2020 NewsEditor

Lana Condor is reminding Donald Trump that his word choice has serious ramifications.

The Vietnamese-born American actress took to Twitter on Wednesday to call out the president for repeatedly and recklessly calling COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus” in an apparent effort to connect the pandemic to people from China.

For those who don’t follow POTUS on Twitter (which we certainly don’t blame you for), he’s been using the term “Chinese Virus” in several posts throughout the week, without a care to the Asian Americans across the states who are being bullied, mocked, and even attacked due to

The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before actress was one of many who was fed up with Donny’s harmful, xenophobic phrasing. She wrote on Twitter:

“You have no idea the ramifications your racist words and actions have on the Asian-American community. You simply cannot even fathom the danger you are putting our community in. How dare you. You should be ashamed of yourself. You call yourself a leader? You know what leaders do? They LEAD by setting good examples and ACTION. Something we’ve yet to see you do. You need to take notes on Chinese billionaire Jack Ma who is ACTUALLY leading — by donating tests and millions of masks to AMERICA because you haven’t. Please. Be Better. So we aren’t afraid to leave our house in fear someone will verbally or physically abuse us because of your xenophobia.”

Powerful words. But sadly, it doesn’t seem like Trump will ever “be better” about this.

POTUS actually defended his usage of the term on Wednesday, telling reporters:

“It’s not racist at all. No, not at all. It comes from China, that’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.”

Of course, by “accurate” Donny means “perpetuating racism and nationalistic hatred for reelection purposes and not giving a f**k who suffers because of it” — because if he really wanted to be accurate, he’d follow the CDC’s recommendation to call the virus COVID-19 and nothing else.

In fact, the CDC even issued a statement urging people against using such phrasing or discriminating against Chinese people earlier this month. Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, said it is “absolutely wrong and inappropriate” to call COVID-19, which originated in China, the “Chinese coronavirus.”

The CDC’s website reads:

“People in the U.S. may be worried or anxious about friends and relatives who are living in or visiting areas where COVID-19 is spreading. Some people are worried about the disease. Fear and anxiety can lead to social stigma, for example, towards Chinese or other Asian Americans or people who were in quarantine…Stigma hurts everyone by creating more fear or anger towards ordinary people instead of the disease that is causing the problem.”

To all those hoping The Donald will actually turn down an opportunity to rile up his supporters with racism for the safety and well-being of the Asian community… don’t hold your breath.

Still, we applaud Lana for speaking out. You did what you could, gurl!

What do U think about all this, Perezcious readers? Share your thoughts (below).

[Image via WENN]