Trump Appears More Concerned With Closing Borders Than Testing For Coronavirus
Huff PostLOADING ERROR LOADING During his first address to the nation on the global coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump characterized COVID-19 as a “foreign virus” while touting his decision to institute travel restrictions with China and announcing plans to close the U.S. to visitors from most of Europe. Trump clearly sees the novel coronavirus as just another foreign invader to keep out — a viewpoint reflected both in his policy proposals and the way he and his administration talk about the virus. Anti-immigration zealot Rep. Paul Gosar — who is in self-quarantine after being exposed to coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland — has gone out of his way to describe the virus as the “Wuhan virus,” a reference to the location of the first outbreak. Xenophobic language to describe the outbreak also has consequences for some Asians in the U.S., who have reported abuse including being punched in the face and sprayed with Febreze on the train, as well as having their car vandalized with the phrase, “Fuck Asions … and coronavirus!” The president may be hoping that fear-mongering will obscure glaring failures in the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak.