Cuomo: You Know Who’s Doing A Good Job On NY’s COVID-19 Outbreak? Trump (VIDEO); Trump Administration Confronts a Growing Coronavirus Threat Within

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By Hot Air. Perhaps this crisis might produce a better environment for cooperation after all. This statement might have been seen as a simple process-smoothing sop from Andrew Cuomo to Donald Trump, but Cuomo sounds pretty sincere — and detailed in his praise. In his press conference updating events on the COVID-19 outbreak, Cuomo emphasized that he and Trump have always had a good working relationship, and that Trump has been “fully engaged” in the coronavirus containment efforts in New York.

“We’re fighting the same war,” Cuomo said of Trump, and “we’re in the same trench.” That’s quite a change of pace from the partisan bickering of the past few weeks:

Cuomo’s complimentary treatment of Trump has a solid factual basis too, at least for Cuomo. The governor announced that New York has now confirmed more than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 infection, the most of any state, and that requires a more robust response. Trump has now ordered a Navy hospital ship to go to New York City to provide more capacity for overtaxed medical facilities in the state, which will help address an anticipated bed shortage over the next few weeks:

(Read more from “Cuomo: You Know Who’s Doing A Good Job On NY’s COVID-19 Outbreak? Trump” HERE)

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Trump Administration Confronts a Growing Coronavirus Threat Within

By Politico. The federal agency that serves as an international multimedia broadcaster for the U.S. informed all employees of its first known coronavirus case about an hour after it knew.

But the agency responsible for regulating civil aviation in the U.S. didn’t immediately tell technical operations employees about a positive test result at a Las Vegas airport, allowing them to continue working in a potentially infected area. Those employees, including technicians who had just completed their shifts, found out after a tower was evacuated.

Dozens of employees who work across the nation’s federal agencies have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, adding to the surging count of well over 10,000 confirmed cases in the United States. Experts expect the number of cases to continue rising as more tests are made available — and the federal government’s millions of employees are just as exposed as the American public at large. Meanwhile, hundreds, if not thousands, of other government employees have quarantined themselves either out of precaution or because they are exhibiting symptoms of the disease.

But if the Trump administration has a unified policy on how it is handling the grim march of the virus within its own ranks, it isn’t sharing it. (Read more from “Trump Administration Confronts a Growing Coronavirus Threat Within” HERE)

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WATCH: Trump Calls out Reporter When She Says Government Was Unprepared on Coronavirus Testing; Ilhan Omar Offers Trump Rare Praise; Joe Biden Claims We Have Pandemic Because of Trump

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By The Blaze. President Donald Trump shot down a reporter’s question during a coronavirus media briefing on Thursday over previous accusations of racism made by her network.

NBC’s Kristen Welker asked a pointed question about the government’s preparedness in relation to the pandemic when the president fired back.

“You did say a few days ago though, you did have a sense that this was a pandemic that was coming, so why was the United States not prepared with more testing?” asked Welker.

“We were very prepared, the only thing we weren’t prepared for was the media, the media has not treated it fairly,” responded the president.

(Read more from “WATCH: Trump Calls out Reporter When She Says Government Was Unprepared on Coronavirus Testing” HERE)

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Ilhan Omar Offers Trump Rare Praise for Coronavirus Response

By New York Post. Rep. Ilhan Omar commended President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in an unexpected moment of rare praise.

“Politics aside, this is incredible and the right response in this critical time,” Omar (D-Minn.) tweeted Wednesday evening alongside a hand-clapping emoji.

The frequent Trump critic and member of “The Squad” was responding to a tweet about the commander in chief’s recent actions to combat the coronavirus, including, as the quote read, “suspending mortgage foreclosures, demanding cash payments to Americans, now invoking the Defense Production Act to force private firms to produce needed supplies.”

Omar went on to praise Trump, who has feuded with Omar on multiple occasions, by referencing words of wisdom from fellow “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

(Read more from “Ilhan Omar Offers Trump Rare Praise for Coronavirus Response” HERE)

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Fact Check: Joe Biden Claims We Have Coronavirus Because of Trump

By Breitbart. CLAIM: The coronavirus outbreak hit the U.S. because President Donald Trump “eliminated” President Barack Obama’s pandemic office.

VERDICT: FALSE.

Former vice president Joe Biden claimed on Twitter on Thursday that the U.S. is “paying the price” of coronavirus because President Trump “eliminated” an office that dealt with pandemics.

Biden is wrong — very wrong. This falsehood almost deserves an entirely separate category of ignominy because of its ability to divide and frighten people in the middle of a crisis that requires social cooperation and trust.

The truth — as explained earlier this week in the Washington Post by former National Security Council official Tim Morrison — is that the office was combined with others in a reorganiztion that “left the biodefense staff unaffected.” (Read more from “Fact Check: Joe Biden Claims We Have Coronavirus Because of Trump” HERE)

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China Lied and People Died: Chinese Scientists Destroyed Coronavirus Evidence in December; GOP Senator Says China ‘to Blame’ for Spread Because of Culture; Woman Who Flew From U.S. to China Faces Criminal Charges After Lying About Symptoms; Trump Doubles Down on ‘China Virus’

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By Townhall. The Chinese are to blame for this Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Their containment methods were laughable, their officials refused to inform the public, and people died. They allowed Wuhan to celebrate Chinese New Year, exposing potentially tens of thousands to the disease. Some five million left the city before they enacted a quarantine. And now we’re hearing that they knew about human transmissions. The Wall Street Journal’s piece on how this whole international fiasco began all but places the blame where it should rightfully be directed: China . . .

And now, there are reports that Chinese scientists destroyed evidence about the virus back in December (via The Times UK):

Chinese laboratories identified a mystery virus as a highly infectious new pathogen by late December last year, but they were ordered to stop tests, destroy samples and suppress the news, a Chinese media outlet has revealed.

A regional health official in Wuhan, centre of the outbreak, demanded the destruction of the lab samples that established the cause of unexplained viral pneumonia on January 1. China did not acknowledge there was human-to-human transmission until more than three weeks later.

The detailed revelations by Caixin Global, a respected independent publication, provide the clearest evidence yet of the scale of the cover-up in the crucial early weeks when the opportunity was lost to control the outbreak. Censors have been rapidly deleting the report from the Chinese internet.

(Read more from “China Lied and People Died: Chinese Scientists Destroyed Coronavirus Evidence in December” HERE)

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GOP Senator Says China ‘to Blame’ for Coronavirus Spread Because of ‘Culture Where People Eat Bats and Snakes and Dogs’

By USA Today. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, drew a backlash on social media and from Asian American advocates on Wednesday for claiming China was “to blame” for the spread of the coronavirus because of a “culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that.”

‘These viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that’s why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine flu, and now the coronavirus, so I think they have a fundamental problem, the Texas Republican said to reporters, saying he did not object to a geographic name for the virus.

Asked about Asian Americans’ concerns about racism, Cornyn said, “I disagree. We’re not talking about Asians. We’re talking about China, where these viruses emanate from and created this pandemic.” . . .

The CDC says the coronavirus has its origins in bats and might have jumped to humans through a “wet market,” or a live animal market in Wuhan, China.

Swine flu was first detected in the United States in 2009, and MERS was first identified in Jordan in 2012, according to the CDC. The CDC says the first cases of SARS were reported in China’s Guangdong province in 2002. (Read more from “GOP Senator Says China ‘to Blame’ for Coronavirus Spread Because of ‘Culture Where People Eat Bats and Snakes and Dogs'” HERE)

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Woman Who Flew From U.S. to China for Coronavirus Test Faces Criminal Charges

By Los Angeles Times. A woman who flew last week from Massachusetts to Los Angeles — then to Beijing, where she tested positive for coronavirus — is under investigation on allegations of concealing her symptoms and putting fellow travelers at risk of infection.

The woman took fever-reducing medication before boarding a plane and lied to flight attendants, according to Beijing’s disease control center and an Air China representative, who held a news conference on Monday.

The woman, who was hospitalized and is receiving treatment, is under investigation for the crime of “impeding prevention of infectious diseases.” According to Chinese law, she could face up to three years of imprisonment or detention with possible forced labor, or up to seven years of prison if there are “serious consequences.”

As the pandemic worsens around the world but slows in China, authorities in Beijing are tightening controls. All passengers arriving in Beijing from abroad, including Chinese nationals, are required to quarantine in government centers for 14 days. (Read more from “Woman Who Flew From U.S. to China for Coronavirus Test Faces Criminal Charges” HERE)

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Trump Doubles Down on ‘China Virus,’ Demands to Know Who in White House Used Phrase ‘Kung Flu’

By Fox News. President Trump on Wednesday continued to call COVID-19, the “China virus,” and said he doesn’t think labeling the novel coronavirus is racist or puts Asian-Americans at risk.

“No, not at all,” Trump said during the noon press conference. “I think they probably would agree with it, 100 percent. It comes from China.”

Trump has been under pressure from China as well as some Democrats to stop using the term “China virus” or “Wuhan virus.” They believe the term stigmatizes China and borders on being racist. But instead if stopping, Trump has upped his use. . .

In the bizarre exchange, Trump asked Alcindor to repeat the phrase “Kung-Flu” and asked her directly which White House official had used the term. She said she did not get a name.

Earlier in the day, White House advisor Kellyanne Conway took a more combative tone with reporters and though she said using the phrase “Kung-Flu” was wrong, she refused to engage in a “hypothetical” and demanded to know who in the White House had the exchange with Jiang. (Read more from “Trump Doubles Down on ‘China Virus,’ Demands to Know Who in White House Used Phrase ‘Kung Flu'” HERE)

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WATCH: Google Employee Who Allegedly Assaulted Pro-Life Activist Countersues Him for $5 Million

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A senior Google employee who allegedly assaulted a pro-life activist countersued him for $5 million.

Twenty-eight-year-old engineer Michael Gribbin said he was chalking pro-life messages on the sidewalk near a Washington, D.C., Planned Parenthood on Aug. 31, 2019, when Quinn Chasan, the head of customer analytics for Google Cloud physically assaulted him.

Video footage of the incident posted to YouTube by Gribbin allegedly shows Gribbin following Chasan and demanding that Chasan give his chalk back. The footage then shows Chasan throw the chalk, walk to his bike and unlock it, and Gribbin grab the bike and say he will not allow Chasan to leave until police arrive. Chasan then punches Gribbin and pushes him to the ground, according to Gribbin.

A September 2019 police report obtained by the Daily Caller says that the victim called for police assistance “after he was punched and pushed by S-1 [suspect] after a heated argument turned physical in the 400 block of M street,” and that “N.E. M.P.D Officers arrived on scene where V-1 flagged Officers down to give his account of events.”

An MPD spokesperson told the Daily Caller at the time that no further information was available and that the case remained under investigation. (Read more from “Google Employee Who Allegedly Assaulted Pro-Life Activist Countersues Him for $5 Million” HERE)

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Arrogant CNN ‘Hosts’ Repeatedly LIE, Insist Trump Dubbed the Coronavirus a ‘Hoax’ (VIDEO)

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In a horrendous lie on CNN first flagged by the Trump campaign, CNN hosts Ana Cabrera and Boris Sanchez displayed gross arrogance, immaturity, and snarkiness in repeatedly lying by telling viewers on Saturday and Sunday that President Trump initially chalked up the coronavirus to having been “a hoax.”

Fact-checker after fact-checker (and even liberal ones like The Washington Post) decried this falsehood, but in Zuckerville, such gaslighting is not only encouraged, but it’s become a requirement to survive at CNN.

Sunday afternoon, Cabrera directly blamed the President for the coronavirus outbreak and peddled the “hoax” lie. As part of a seven-minute meltdown, she insisted that a lack of funding for an Obama-instituted program on pandemics. . .

“The words of an American president during a time of global crisis matter the world over. President Trump is trading on the credibility of an office he did not create. So where will the world turn when it is taught to turn off a President who said this in India less than three weeks ago,” an offended Cabrera lectured, which led to a soundbite of Trump predicting that the virus would “go away.”

Earth to CNN: Facts change. Sure, critique the President’s demeanor. By all means take issue with a press conference or a tweet. It’s all fair game! But making faces, sighing, and lashing out solves nothing when it comes to being a host and so-called journalist. (Read more from “Arrogant CNN ‘Hosts’ Repeatedly Lie, Insist Trump Dubbed the Coronavirus a ‘Hoax’” HERE)

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At Debate, Biden Promises He’ll Have a Female Vice President; Earlier, Biden Campaign Apologizes After He Wanders off Camera in Middle of Livestream Town Hall

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By Joey Garrison. Joe Biden committed to picking a woman as his running mate during Sunday’s televised Democratic presidential debate while Sen. Bernie Sanders said “in all likelihood” he would also choose a female vice presidential candidate if he’s the nominee.

“My administration will look like the country and I commit that I will in fact pick a woman to be vice president,” the former vice president said. “There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow. I will pick a woman as my vice president”. . .

Adding diversity to the Democratic ticket is widely seen as a priority for a party that now has two white men, both in their late 70s, as its top two candidates.

The only women vice presidential candidates to be on a ticket are Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008. Ferraro ran with Walter Mondale for the Democrats and Palin ran with John McCain for the Republicans. No woman has ever been elected vice president or president. (Read more about the Biden campaign commitment to a female running mate HERE)
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By Pluralist. Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign apologized after he wandered off camera on Friday during a glitch-plagued livestream event.

The campaign emailed viewers after the Facebook livestream was derailed by multiple production failures and apparent on-screen gaffes by Biden, according to Breitbart News.

“Tonight, you tuned in to our first ever virtual town hall. And unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties. That’s our bad,” the campaign said in the email. . .

The Verge described the Zoom-hosted livestream as a “technical nightmare,” and CNN called it a “technical calamity.” In its headline about the event, Fox News described it like a terminally ill patient.

Jordan Uhl, a liberal activist and political consultant, mocked the “bizarre, meandering livestream.” He noted that Biden at one point turned away from the camera and walked off screen while answering a question about endangered species.

(Read more from “Biden Campaign Apologizes After He Wanders off Camera in Middle of Livestream Town Hall” HERE)

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Economists Say Black Swan Event Has Already Initiated Global Recession; Mnuchin Says Not so Fast (VIDEO)

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By CNBC. Goldman Sachs’ economists declared the U.S. economy all but recession-proof at the dawning of 2020, but now it appears a coronavirus-induced recession may have begun just a few months later.

The analysis didn’t account for a “Black Swan,” a term for an improbable and unforeseen event [like the Wuhan Virus]. Instead, it explored the idea of a “Great Moderation,” which is characterized by low volatility, sustainable growth and muted inflation. . .

Economist Alan Blinder told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Wednesday that the U.S. was probably already in a recession as the coronavirus outbreak cancelled conferences, events and travel plans.

. . .In the end, most of the things investors were worried about did not trigger one of the biggest market crashes in Wall Street history or the economic pain that most assuredly will follow. It was an outbreak of a new virus that many thought would be contained to foreign lands — and this was truly a Black Swan.

“We are going into a global recession,” warns chief economic advisor at Allianz Mohamed El-Erian, who correctly called the bear market as it approached. “The economic damage is going to last.” (Read more from “Economists Say Black Swan Event Has Already Initiated Global Recession” HERE)

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Despite Forecasting Economic Slowdown, Mnuchin Says Coronavirus Won’t Cause Recession

By ABC News. Despite forecasting an economic slowdown, the president’s top economic adviser said on ABC’s “This Week” that he did not think the novel coronavirus pandemic would cause a recession.

Responding to ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl on whether there will be a recession, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “I don’t think so. The real issue is not the economic situation today. … This is a unique situation. We are going to have a slowdown. Later in the year economic activity will pick up as we confront this virus.”

On Sunday, just days after negotiating a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill with House Democrats, he added, “The stock market is gonna go up, it’s gonna go down, we can’t focus on (it) every day.” (Read more from “Despite Forecasting Economic Slowdown, Mnuchin Says Coronavirus Won’t Cause Recession” HERE)

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Why Is Toilet Paper Vanishing From Supermarkets? (VIDEO); Tom Cotton: Anyone Who Casts ‘Wuhan Virus’ as Xenophobic Is a ‘Politically Correct Fool’; Fox News Host Says U.S. Should Remember ‘the Wuhan Virus That Poisoned the World’ When Trading With China

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By Fox Business. You might notice something unusual, not to mention unfortunate, next time you try to stock up on bathroom supplies at your local grocery store.

Not just the bare shelves where hand sanitizer and cleansing wipes were plentiful only a few weeks ago, but the empty aisles where toilet paper usually abounds in quantities from single rolls to packages of more than a dozen. . .

One is reason is that people are going to extremes because of conflicting messages, Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Psychology of Pandemics,” told CNN. . .

The second reason: They aren’t receiving clear direction from the government. . .

Social media has heightened the tension, as have visits to stores where other shoppers are stockpiling with abandon. (Read more from “Why Is Toilet Paper Vanishing From Supermarkets?” HERE)

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Tom Cotton: Anyone Who Casts ‘Wuhan Virus’ as Xenophobic Is a ‘Politically Correct Fool’

By Washington Examiner. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton defended the use of the phrase “Wuhan Virus” from critics who complain it is xenophobic.

The Republican was prompted to react to media disapproval of labeling the coronavirus in such a way that identifies its widely believed origin in Wuhan, China, by Fox News host Jesse Watters on his Saturday evening show, Watters’ World.

“Anyone who complains that it’s racist or xenophobic to call this virus the Chinese coronavirus or the Wuhan virus is a politically correct fool,” Cotton said.

Moments earlier, Watters showed a tweet from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, who said: “Just astoundingly gross to call it the Wuhan Virus.”

The senator said these critics should be ignored, particularly talking about the spread of the deadly illness. (Read more from “Tom Cotton: Anyone Who Casts ‘Wuhan Virus’ as Xenophobic Is a ‘Politically Correct Fool'” HERE)

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Fox News Host Says U.S. Should Remember ‘the Wuhan Virus That Poisoned the World’ When Trading With China

By Newsweek. On Friday, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade stated that the U.S. should remember the novel coronavirus as “the Wuhan virus that poisoned the world,” when participating in trade deals with China.

“The next time someone signs up for their Belt and Road program or for Huawei, they should keep on the Wuhan virus that poisoned the world,” Kilmeade said. “That’s what you get when you get Chinese trade and that’s what the American companies should keep in mind when they cut these deals.”

Kilmeade’s comments come as the show was discussing Chinese officials blaming the U.S for the coronavirus with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Their discussion stemmed from a recent tweet by Lijian Zhao, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry, where he suggested that the U.S. brought the novel coronavirus to Wuhan, and not that it originated in the city. (Read more from “Fox News Host Says U.S. Should Remember ‘the Wuhan Virus That Poisoned the World’ When Trading With China” HERE)

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The U.S. May Have to Target the IRGC in Iran to Stop Iraq Base Attacks

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Escalating Iranian-orchestrated attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq are unlikely to stop until President Trump orders limited retaliation against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets on Iranian soil.

The growing challenge is obvious following two significant rocket attacks this week on the U.S. military’s Camp Taji.

The first attack killed two U.S. service members and one British soldier. A second attack on Saturday morning wounded three Americans and two Iraqis. Both attacks were carried out by Iran’s Kata’ib Hezbollah militia proxy, under direction from Iran’s IRGC. But what makes these attacks particularly concerning is that they are designed to kill. That might seem obvious, but the use hereof numerous rockets targeting areas of Camp Taji where soldiers congregate stands these incidents apart from other rocket attacks, which are primarily designed to harass. . .

Well, retaliating against Kata’ib Hezbollah, as following the first attack this week, is inadequate. Iran clearly didn’t view that retaliation as serious, or it wouldn’t have allowed this second attack to occur. Kata’ib Hezbollah is the sideshow here, Iran is the key problem. But the U.S. has alternate options.

At the top-line level, the loss of two Americans this week shows an imminent and continuing threat. So Trump does not need congressional authority to take limited action against the IRGC inside Iran. And that’s important because the U.S. could likely restore deterrent balance by targeting one or several IRGC military sites. The catastrophic impact that the coronavirus is wreaking on Iranian civil society means that the regime is under immense pressure. This pressure is exacerbated by U.S. efforts to support the growing protest movement. And while these attacks and Iranian escalations on the nuclear front are designed toward coercing the U.S. into sanctions relief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cannot risk an escalatory showdown with the U.S. The supreme leader won’t admit it, but he knows it’s a showdown he can’t win. (Read more from “The U.S. May Have to Target the IRGC in Iran to Stop Iraq Base Attacks” HERE)

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WATCH: Woke Media Calls Term ‘Wuhan Virus’ Racist After Using Term ‘Wuhan Virus’

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President Donald Trump was criticized by liberals and left-wing media pundits for accurately identifying the novel Wuhan coronavirus as a “foreign virus” after countlessly using the term themselves.

“The president referred to the coronavirus as a ‘foreign virus,’” CNN’s Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said after the president’s Wednesday night address from the Oval Office. “It’s going to come across to a lot of Americans as smacking of xenophobia to use that kind of term in this speech.”

A new video montage from the Media Research Center however, illustrates a glaring double-standard employed by elites deeming it only racist to point out the origin of the Wuhan virus once done so by Republicans.

“You’re starting to hear the Republicans, especially Trump Co. calling it the ‘Wuhan’ or the ‘Chinese coronavirus.’ They’re looking for someone to blame,” Cuomo says as the start of the video followed by colleague at CNN using the exact term Cuomo denounced.

The video also features reporters from other networks using the virus’ name adopted from the site of its first outbreak. (Read more from “Woke Media Calls Term ‘Wuhan Virus’ Racist After Using Term ‘Wuhan Virus’” HERE)

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