Former NBA star Jeremy Lin spoke out to blast President Donald Trump this week for calling coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” claiming that doing so is racist.
Lin, a Taiwanese-American who currently plays for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, accused Trump of “empowering racism” every time he used the phrase “Chinese virus.”
“I wish you would powerfully support the vulnerable people that will suffer due to our mismanagement of this virus, including those that will be affected by the racism you’re empowering,” tweeted the 31-year-old basketball star, who previously played for the New York Knicks.
♂️I wish you would powerfully support the vulnerable people that will suffer due to our mismanagement of this virus, including those that will be affected by the racism you’re empowering https://t.co/QfRHiOFGEm
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2020
Lin went on to seemingly address those who have pointed out that many diseases have been named after their places of origin.
“And I dont wanna hear about no German measles/Spanish flu [because] everyday Asian-Americans [including people] I know are threatened and physically attacked,” he tweeted. “I dont give a crap about the history of names [right now]. What I do know is this subtle anti-Chinese message only empowers more hate towards Asians.”
And I dont wanna hear about no German measles/Spanish flu bc everyday Asian-Americans inc ppl I know are threatened and physically attacked. I dont give a crap about the history of names rn. What I do know is this subtle anti-Chinese message only empowers more hate towards asians
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2020
Lin became heated once again when someone let him know that the mainstream media had been calling the virus the “Wuhan virus” up until just a very short time ago.
“Can you honestly tell me there is ZERO anti-Chinese sentiment in all his characterizations of the virus? Can you honestly tell me Asians aren’t being unfairly physically attacked today in the US? Is it that hard to use coronavirus or COVID-19? We playin the blame game in a crisis,” Lin wrote.
Can you honestly tell me there is ZERO anti-Chinese sentiment in all his characterizations of the virus? Can you honestly tell me Asians aren’t being unfairly physically attacked today in the US? Is it that hard to use coronavirus or COVID-19? We playin the blame game in a crisis https://t.co/OsGo5wvW1k
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2020
Notice that Lin had no argument as to why he wasn’t outraged when just the media was referring to the disease as the “Wuhan virus” or the “China virus.” As you can see below, the mainstream media was referring to the virus by it’s place of origin for months before they suddenly decided that Trump was “racist” for doing the same thing.
Liberal media pundits want you to think referring to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan” or “Chinese” virus is racist.
Here’s just a few of the times the liberal media did just that. pic.twitter.com/ss3kV5smSP
— MRCTV.org (@mrctv) March 12, 2020
Like many other forms of outrage against Trump, the offense over his use of the term “Chinese virus” is fake. If Lin really had a problem with the use of this term, he would have said so months ago when the entire media was using it constantly. Shame on Lin for throwing a temper tantrum about this now, just to attack Trump at a time when we should be putting politics aside to fight this pandemic with a unified front.
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on March 21, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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