Trump: Chinese Americans ‘most angry’ at Beijing

President Trump in an early morning tweet on Tuesday claimed that Asian Americans are angry at “what China has done to our Country and the World” amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and Chinese Americans are “the most angry of all.” 

“Asian Americans are VERY angry at what China has done to our Country, and the World. Chinese Americans are the most angry of all,” Trump said.

“I don’t blame them!” he added.

Asian Americans are VERY angry at what China has done to our Country, and the World. Chinese Americans are the most angry of all. I don’t blame them!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2020

The message comes after Trump abruptly left his Monday coronavirus news conference after a tense exchange with  CBS’s Weijia Jiang.

The reporter asked the president, who has touted the U.S.’s coronavirus testing capabilities and mortality rates in comparison to other countries, why the statistics surrounding the virus are a “global competition.”

“Well, they’re losing their lives everywhere in the world, and maybe that’s a question you should ask China,” Trump said. “Don’t ask me. Ask China that question, OK? When you ask them that question, you may get a very unusual answer.” 

“Why are you saying that to me specifically?” asked Jiang, who was born in China and raised in West Virginia. The president said that he was not “saying it specifically to anybody.” 

Trump and some of his GOP allies have repeatedly blamed China for the ongoing outbreak, suggesting that officials could have acted sooner to stop the spread of the virus. 

Trump earlier this year tweeted support for Asian Americans, who had been targeted as the virus spread. 

“It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world,” Trump tweeted. “They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. WE WILL PREVAIL TOGETHER!” Trump tweeted in March. 

It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world. They are amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

At the end of the same month, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) confirmed “at least 1,000 hate crimes incidents being reported against Asian Americans” after the pandemic arrived in the U.S.

Trump also came under fire earlier this year after he repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus,” despite critics saying that the term is racist and fosters discrimination. Officials in his own administration also said that the phrase is not appropriate.

Trump has denied that the term created a stigma around Asian Americans. He told reporters in March that “it’s not racist at all” and that “It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.”