Adviser to the president Kellyanne Conway invoked her husband’s ethnicity in her response to questions about President Trump’s use of the phrase “China virus.”
Trump has been accused of stoking racism by calling the coronavirus the “Chinese” or “Wuhan” virus regarding the likely origin of the disease, which spread out of Wuhan, China, in late December. Congressmen and advisers to the president have repeatedly tied the virus to China as well.
Reporters asked Conway about the president’s use of the phrase on Wednesday, and she reiterated Trump’s argument that his term for the virus is valid given its believed origin. During the interaction, a reporter who was born in China brought up how a White House staffer reportedly referred to the illness as the “Kung flu.“
“Of course it’s wrong,” Conway said of the comment, demanding to know which staffer made the remark and calling it “highly offensive.”
“I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals. I’m married to an Asian,” she added, referring to husband George Conway, who is half Filipino.
“I’m married to an Asian” — Kellyanne Conway downplays White House official reportedly calling coronavirus “Kung-Flu” and Trump using the term “Chinese Virus” pic.twitter.com/aI9TubIfGz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 18, 2020
The president defended the virus’s designation during the daily press briefing on Tuesday.
“I didn’t appreciate the fact that China was saying that our military gave it to them. Our military did not give it to anybody,” Trump said. “China was putting out information, which was false, that our military gave this to them. That was false. And rather than having an argument, I said I had to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term.”
There have been coronavirus cases in all 50 states, with more than 6,500 confirmed cases as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University.
