Tag: “kung flu’

GOP Leader Berates Reporter Who Asked About ‘Kung Flu’ Racism

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy lashed out at a reporter on Thursday who asked whether the California Republican thought Donald Trump’s use of a racist term “kung-flu” was “an appropriate way to characterize the coronavirus.”

McCarthy exploded in outrage over the questions, saying in response, “Do you think that’s the most pressing issue you have about the coronavirus? … What I’m thinking about is why that is your most pressing issue as a question. When we’ve just seen a spike in coronavirus, you’re concerned about somebody and the way they name it.”

Trump’s use of the racist term for the coronavirus has sparked outrage, especially as many Asian Americans have found themselves the target of hate crimes and violence while Trump and Republicans continue to blame the COVID-19 pandemic on China. Continue reading.

With ‘kung flu,’ ‘thugs,’ and ‘our heritage,’ Trump leans on racial grievance as he reaches for a campaign reset

Washington Post logoHe referred to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus as the “kung flu.” He called racial justice demonstrators “thugs.” He attacked efforts to take down Confederate statues as an assault on “our heritage.” And in an ominous hypothetical, he described a “very tough hombre” breaking into a young woman’s home while her husband is away.

President Trump has long used his raucous rallies to road test potential campaign themes and attack lines. And while much attention on his Saturday night appearance in Tulsa focused on the sparse turnout for his first rally since the pandemic ended mass gatherings, Trump’s litany of racially offensive stereotypes sent a clear signal about how he plans to try to revive his flagging reelection effort.

Even at a moment of national reckoning over race and racism, Trump demonstrated the extent to which the final four months of the 2020 election will build on the darker themes of a previous campaign notable for its attacks on Hispanic immigrants and Muslims. Continue reading.