🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 19 (from laksa145)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa019.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/","crawl_time":1774964169,"first_indexed_time":1584630223,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,politifact!www,\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ s443","src_root_hash":"8805077254995538019","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"PolitiFact | Donald Trump calls the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus.’ Health experts say that’s wrong","meta_descriptions":["The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the \"Chinese virus.\" But"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the \"Chinese virus.\" But the World Health Organization, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health experts say that phrasing is wrong.\nReporters during White House briefings on the coronavirus have asked Trump why he uses that phrase even when critics say it creates a stigma and is racist.\nTrump at a March 17 briefing suggested he was using the term in reaction to moves from China that he didn’t like.\n\"Well, China was putting out information which was false, that our military gave this to them,\"\nTrump said\n. \"That was false, and rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term. But no, 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.\"\nTrump said he didn’t think his preferred phrase created a stigma. \"I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma.\"\nOn March 18, Trump again defended his phrasing after a reporter said there had been dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in the United States, and that the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary said ethnicity\ndoes not cause\nthe novel coronavirus.\n\"It’s not racist at all, no, not at all,\"\nTrump said\n. \"It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.\"\nTrump added that \"China tried to say at one point, maybe they stopped now\" that the coronavirus was caused by American soldiers.\nA spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on March 12 suggested, without providing evidence, that the United States was to blame for the coronavirus in China. \"It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,\" Zhao Lijian\ntweeted\n.\nThe World Health Organization has\nsaid\nthat an outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has not linked it to U.S. troops. China’s initial response to the outbreak has been criticized as\nslow\nand\nsecretive\n.\nStill, applying the word \"Chinese\" to a virus that’s now all around the world, that has upended daily life worldwide, and fueled global anxiety and fear is problematic and stigmatizes Chinese individuals, experts told PolitiFact.\n\"We want to keep the focus on the virus, not on ethnicity or racial differences,\" said Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. \"We want to keep the focus on prevention, not increase an us-them divide.\"\nAt a March 10 House hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., asked CDC director Robert Redfield whether he agreed that calling the coronavirus the \"Chinese coronavirus\" was \"absolutely wrong and inappropriate.\"\n\"Yes,\"\nRedfield said\n.\nNeither the White House nor Trump’s re-election campaign provided an on-the-record response for PolitiFact’s story.\nPresident Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)\nImpact of using a geographic term for the virus\nGeographic terms have been adopted in the past for diseases, such as the Spanish flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. And Trump isn’t the only one to have used the phrase \"Chinese virus.\"\nA Twitter account managed by Trump’s re-election campaign\ntweeted\na 38-second video compiling instances when cable TV news reporters — on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC — used the term \"Chinese coronavirus,\" \"Wuhan coronavirus\" or \"Chinese virus\" when reporting on the outbreak. (PolitiFact used the phrase \"Wuhan coronavirus\" in\nheadlines\nof two January fact-checks\n.)\nThe March 12 Trump campaign tweet claimed Trump was accused of \"racism and xenophobia for stating the facts.\"\n\"This is a foreign virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Just a few weeks ago, Democrats and the media were all saying it!\" the tweet said.\nBut experts say it’s best to not name diseases after geographic places.\nWHO in 2015 issued\nbest practices\nguidance for the naming of new human infectious diseases, with the aim of minimizing \"unnecessary negative impact\" on industries and to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. The guidance said disease names should not include geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions and continents.\nThe phrase \"Chinese virus\" could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin, said Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation.\nUsing the geographic term suggests that they may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread COVID-19, Petrun Sayers said.\n\"These types of assumptions are incorrect, because viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups, and have implications for shaping the general public’s attitudes towards persons of Asian origin,\" Petrun Sayers said.\nThe stigma can have a long-lasting effect.\nResearch\nabout\nsevere acute respiratory syndrome\n, or SARS, says that residents in Hong Kong, near the center of the 2003 outbreak, experienced shunning, insults and exclusion from professional and social circles, Petrun Sayers said. \"Discrimination creates undeserved distress for those affected or believed to be affected and can severely decrease their quality of life,\" she said.\nThe term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized, Molina said. \"They will be less likely to seek medical care, which undermines all of our public health,\" she said.\nMolina said it’s important to keep in mind how rhetoric affects people.\n\"At a time when we are worried about how social isolation is affecting us,\" she said. \"We need to understand that racial animus is only going to make things worse for those groups.\"","attrs_markdown":"![](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tr?id=292850974235854&ev=PageView&noscript=1)\n\n[The Poynter Institute](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/)\n\n[Menu](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/)\n\n[Donate](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/membership\/)\n\nState Editions\n\n- [California](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/california\/)\n- [Florida](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/florida\/)\n- [Iowa](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/iowa\/)\n- [Michigan](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/michigan\/)\n- [New Hampshire](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/new-hampshire\/)\n- [New 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Newsletter\n\n[Sign up](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/)\n\n**[English](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/)**  [Español](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/espanol\/)\n\n### Get PolitiFact in your inbox.\n# Donald Trump calls the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus.’ Health experts say that’s wrong\n- [Health Care](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/health-care\/ \"Health Care\")\n- [Public Health](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/public-health\/ \"Public Health\")\n- [Coronavirus](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/coronavirus\/ \"Coronavirus\")\n\n![President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/photos\/AP_200785999225631\/3be5f3084306555f5fc73a62b50291db.jpg)\n\n![President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)]()\n\n![President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/photos\/AP_200785999225631\/af239879532c15916ff35d0c429e4a00.jpg)\n\nPresident Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)\n\n[![Miriam Valverde](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/staffers\/Miriam_Valverde\/365bef0143ce267e6674c3811aea7b5b.jpg)](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/staff\/miriam-valverde\/)\n\nBy [Miriam Valverde](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/staff\/miriam-valverde\/) March 19, 2020\n\n#### If Your Time is short\n- Experts say the phrase “Chinese virus” could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin.\n- The stigma from the term can have a long-lasting effect.\n- The term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized.\n\nThe way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the \"Chinese virus.\" But the World Health Organization, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health experts say that phrasing is wrong.\n\nReporters during White House briefings on the coronavirus have asked Trump why he uses that phrase even when critics say it creates a stigma and is racist.\n\nTrump at a March 17 briefing suggested he was using the term in reaction to moves from China that he didn’t like.\n\n\"Well, China was putting out information which was false, that our military gave this to them,\" [Trump said](https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?470426-1\/president-trump-urges-states-follow-coronavirus-guidelines&start=4343). \"That was false, and rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term. But no, 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.\"\n\nTrump said he didn’t think his preferred phrase created a stigma. \"I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma.\"\n\nOn March 18, Trump again defended his phrasing after a reporter said there had been dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in the United States, and that the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary said ethnicity [does not cause](https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJudyChu\/status\/1233078067981115393) the novel coronavirus.\n\n\"It’s not racist at all, no, not at all,\" [Trump said](https:\/\/twitter.com\/cspan\/status\/1240317057721344010). \"It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.\"\n\nTrump added that \"China tried to say at one point, maybe they stopped now\" that the coronavirus was caused by American soldiers.\n\nA spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on March 12 suggested, without providing evidence, that the United States was to blame for the coronavirus in China. \"It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,\" Zhao Lijian [tweeted](https:\/\/twitter.com\/zlj517\/status\/1238111898828066823).\n\nThe World Health Organization has [said](https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-coronaviruses) that an outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has not linked it to U.S. troops. China’s initial response to the outbreak has been criticized as [slow](https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-00741-x) [and](https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932) [secretive](https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2020\/03\/06\/china-coronavirus-response-diplomatic-offensive-united-nations-document\/).\n\nStill, applying the word \"Chinese\" to a virus that’s now all around the world, that has upended daily life worldwide, and fueled global anxiety and fear is problematic and stigmatizes Chinese individuals, experts told PolitiFact.\n\n\"We want to keep the focus on the virus, not on ethnicity or racial differences,\" said Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. \"We want to keep the focus on prevention, not increase an us-them divide.\"\n\nAt a March 10 House hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., asked CDC director Robert Redfield whether he agreed that calling the coronavirus the \"Chinese coronavirus\" was \"absolutely wrong and inappropriate.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" [Redfield said](https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?470181-1\/cdc-director-redfield-testifies-coronavirus&live&start=4301).\n\nNeither the White House nor Trump’s re-election campaign provided an on-the-record response for PolitiFact’s story.\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/politifact\/photos\/AP_200785874840581.jpg)\n\n*President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)*\n\n## Impact of using a geographic term for the virus\nGeographic terms have been adopted in the past for diseases, such as the Spanish flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. And Trump isn’t the only one to have used the phrase \"Chinese virus.\"\n\nA Twitter account managed by Trump’s re-election campaign [tweeted](https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrumpWarRoom\/status\/1238112844283068416?s=20) a 38-second video compiling instances when cable TV news reporters — on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC — used the term \"Chinese coronavirus,\" \"Wuhan coronavirus\" or \"Chinese virus\" when reporting on the outbreak. (PolitiFact used the phrase \"Wuhan coronavirus\" in [headlines](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/jan\/28\/facebook-posts\/claim-reports-10000-dead-wuhan-coronavirus-pants-f\/) [of two January fact-checks](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/jan\/23\/facebook-posts\/there-outbreak-china-wuhan-coronavirus-there-not-v\/).)\n\nThe March 12 Trump campaign tweet claimed Trump was accused of \"racism and xenophobia for stating the facts.\"\n\n\"This is a foreign virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Just a few weeks ago, Democrats and the media were all saying it!\" the tweet said.\n\nBut experts say it’s best to not name diseases after geographic places.\n\nWHO in 2015 issued [best practices](https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/bitstream\/handle\/10665\/163636\/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=48343DBB8B27057B74192E7373BABEC8?sequence=1) guidance for the naming of new human infectious diseases, with the aim of minimizing \"unnecessary negative impact\" on industries and to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. The guidance said disease names should not include geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions and continents.\n\nThe phrase \"Chinese virus\" could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin, said Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation.\n\nUsing the geographic term suggests that they may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread COVID-19, Petrun Sayers said.\n\n\"These types of assumptions are incorrect, because viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups, and have implications for shaping the general public’s attitudes towards persons of Asian origin,\" Petrun Sayers said.\n\nThe stigma can have a long-lasting effect.\n\n[Research](https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0277953605001760) about [severe acute respiratory syndrome](https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/sars\/index.html), or SARS, says that residents in Hong Kong, near the center of the 2003 outbreak, experienced shunning, insults and exclusion from professional and social circles, Petrun Sayers said. \"Discrimination creates undeserved distress for those affected or believed to be affected and can severely decrease their quality of life,\" she said.\n\nThe term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized, Molina said. \"They will be less likely to seek medical care, which undermines all of our public health,\" she said.\n\nMolina said it’s important to keep in mind how rhetoric affects people.\n\n\"At a time when we are worried about how social isolation is affecting us,\" she said. \"We need to understand that racial animus is only going to make things worse for those groups.\"\n\n### Our Sources\nC-SPAN, [President Trump and Coronavirus Task Force Hold Briefing](https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?470426-1\/president-trump-urges-states-follow-coronavirus-guidelines&start=4343), March 17, 2020\n\nPhone interview, Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California, March 17, 2020\n\nEmail interview, Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation, March 17, 2020\n\nEmail interview, Katherine A. Mason, assistant professor of anthropology ay\n\nBrown University, March 17, 2020\n\nWorld Health Organization, [Best practices for naming of new human infectious diseases](https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/bitstream\/handle\/10665\/163636\/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=48343DBB8B27057B74192E7373BABEC8?sequence=1), May 2015; [Q\\&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)](https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-coronaviruses), March 9, 2020\n\nTwitter, TrumpWarRoom [tweet](https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrumpWarRoom\/status\/1238112844283068416?s=20%5C), March 12, 2020\n\nTwitter, @zlj517 [tweet](https:\/\/twitter.com\/zlj517\/status\/1238111898828066823), March 12, 2020\n\nSciencedirect.com, [The experience of SARS-related stigma at Amoy Gardens](https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0277953605001760), available online May 23, 2005\n\nPolitiFact, [Fact-checking Donald Trump’s mistakes about European travel due to coronavirus](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/12\/fact-checking-donald-trumps-mistakes-about-europea\/), May 12, 2020\n\nC-SPAN, [House hearing on Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus Response and Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request](https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?470181-1\/cdc-director-redfield-testifies-coronavirus&live&start=4301), March 10, 2020\n\nForeignPolicy.com, [China Goes on Diplomatic Offensive Over Coronavirus Response](https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2020\/03\/06\/china-coronavirus-response-diplomatic-offensive-united-nations-document\/), March 6, 2020\n\nThe New York Times, [China Spins Coronavirus Crisis, Hailing Itself as a Global Leader](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/28\/world\/asia\/china-coronavirus-response-propaganda.html), Feb. 28, 2020, updated March 3, 2020\n\nThe Wall Street Journal, [How It All Started: China’s Early Coronavirus Missteps](https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932), March 6, 2020\n\nCDC, [SARS](https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/sars\/index.html), page last reviewed Dec. 6, 2017\n\nNature.com, [What China’s coronavirus response can teach the rest of the world](https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-00741-x), March 17, 2020\n\nTwitter, @CSPAN, [tweet](https:\/\/twitter.com\/cspan\/status\/1240317057721344010), March 18, 2020\n\nTwitter, @RepJudyChu [tweet](https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJudyChu\/status\/1233078067981115393), Feb. 27, 2020\n\n## Browse the Truth-O-Meter\n### More by Miriam Valverde\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Screen_Shot_2021-09-02_at_4.47.08_PM\/c759417834e63f5bcad16dcdab4f9627.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Screen_Shot_2021-09-02_at_4.47.08_PM\/64d6e2a12382094e334c2731dfa82861.jpg)\n\n[Pramila Jayapal](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on August 30, 2021 in an Instagram post:\n\n[“The average hospital stay for a case of COVID-19 costs about \\$17,064. The vaccine is free.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/sep\/02\/pramila-jayapal\/whats-average-cost-covid-19-hospital-stay\/)\n\n![mostly-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-mostly-true-th.jpg)\n\n![mostly-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-mostly-true.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • September 2, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/mitt_romney_june_2021\/4af195fe1910e4081660fb9c06d562ce.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/mitt_romney_june_2021\/6a9204219471eaeab565b6e7db7a3d99.jpg)\n\n[Mitt Romney](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on August 29, 2021 in a CNN interview:\n\n[The Trump administration worked to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/aug\/31\/mitt-romney\/mitt-romney-accurately-says-trump-administration-w\/)\n\n![true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-true-th.jpg)\n\n![true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-true.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • August 31, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19138732015030\/f9e320998ea9ce260bbf19125f796d9a.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19138732015030\/6498825a244d1bc9382c3c1786d870fd.jpg)\n\n[Joe Biden](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on August 20, 2021 in a press conference:\n\n[There has been “no question of our credibility from our allies around the world” regarding how the U.S. is withdrawing from Afghanistan.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/aug\/26\/joe-biden\/fact-checking-joe-biden-us-credibility-military-wi\/)\n\n![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true-th.jpg)\n\n![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • August 26, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg)\n\n[Facebook posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on August 16, 2021 in a Facebook post:\n\n[COVID-19 vaccinations are “a violation of the Nuremberg code.\"](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/aug\/20\/facebook-posts\/covid-19-vaccination-does-not-violate-nuremberg-co\/)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • August 20, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19302682326668\/62e3ab631a279ef0aca6ab69978cb0cb.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19302682326668\/b79640507d1afdeb0fdff8a638e82a02.jpg)\n\n[Ron DeSantis](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on August 4, 2021 in a press conference:\n\n[Says Joe Biden has driven the current coronavirus surge because he “imported more virus from around the world by having a wide open southern border.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/aug\/06\/ron-desantis\/ron-desantis-effort-blame-covid-19-spread-migrants\/)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n\nBy Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19302682326668\/62e3ab631a279ef0aca6ab69978cb0cb.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19302682326668\/b79640507d1afdeb0fdff8a638e82a02.jpg)\n\n[Ron DeSantis](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on June 16, 2021 in a press conference:\n\n[“That meth … it’s almost all coming across the southern border and it’s been accelerating for the last six months.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/jun\/21\/ron-desantis\/desantis-leaves-out-context-claim-about-meth-and-s\/)\n\n![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true-th.jpg)\n\n![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • June 21, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg\/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg\/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg)\n\n[Instagram posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on June 4, 2021 in an Instagram post:\n\n[\"920 women lose their unborn babies after getting vaccinated.\"](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/jun\/08\/instagram-posts\/claim-about-920-miscarriages-caused-covid-19-vacci\/)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • June 8, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg)\n\n[Facebook posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on May 26, 2021 in a Facebook post:\n\n[Police defunding is to blame for “skyrocketing murder rates” in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/may\/28\/facebook-posts\/facebook-post-makes-unproven-claim-about-police-fu\/)\n\n![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true-th.jpg)\n\n![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • May 28, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg)\n\n[Facebook posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on May 25, 2021 in a Facebook post:\n\n[“Biden agrees to Pelosi's request to resign.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/may\/26\/facebook-posts\/joe-biden-isnt-resigning-and-nancy-pelosi-didnt-as\/)\n\n![pants-fire](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-pants-fire-th.jpg)\n\n![pants-fire](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-pants-fire.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • May 26, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg)\n\n[Facebook posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on May 17, 2021 in social media posts:\n\n[“Gas prices highest in a decade. Worst jobs report in 2 decades. Highest inflation in 3 decades. Highest increase in illegal immigration in 4 decades.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/may\/26\/facebook-posts\/social-media-post-exaggerates-economic-statistics\/)\n\n![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true-th.jpg)\n\n![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true.jpg)\n\nBy Louis Jacobson • May 26, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/kevin_mccarthy_2021\/1c688bf72b3750878bd068acfcbc2aa5.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/kevin_mccarthy_2021\/3ff3f1e13a4e46426c6cbe31646b119b.jpg)\n\n[Kevin McCarthy](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on May 12, 2021 in a statement to reporters:\n\n[\"I don't think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election.\"](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/may\/14\/kevin-mccarthy\/ignoring-claims-his-own-party-kevin-mccarthy-says-\/)\n\n![pants-fire](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-pants-fire-th.jpg)\n\n![pants-fire](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-pants-fire.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • May 14, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Screenshot_2024-11-05_at_12.17.42PM\/0e72644298ff8c74e38697db3ebc58ba.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Screenshot_2024-11-05_at_12.17.42PM\/98e7d786392e108a229a66ebed02f525.jpg)\n\n[Kamala Harris](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on May 4, 2021 in a speech:\n\n[“The global cost of corruption is as much as 5% of the world's GDP.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/may\/07\/kamala-harris\/kamala-harris-said-corruption-costs-much-5-worlds-\/)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • May 7, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19302682326668\/62e3ab631a279ef0aca6ab69978cb0cb.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19302682326668\/b79640507d1afdeb0fdff8a638e82a02.jpg)\n\n[Ron DeSantis](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on April 19, 2021 in a speech:\n\n[“If you look at some of these places that (reduced police funding), they’ve already seen crime go up.\"](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/may\/04\/ron-desantis\/ron-desantis-misleading-claim-about-crime-police-f\/)\n\n![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true-th.jpg)\n\n![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • May 4, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg\/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg\/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg)\n\n[Instagram posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on April 22, 2021 in an Instagram post:\n\n[\"Mountains of data\" show drug ivermectin \"basically obliterates\" COVID-19 transmission.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/apr\/23\/instagram-posts\/fact-checking-claim-about-use-ivermectin-treat-cov\/)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • April 23, 2021\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg)\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Facebook_Logo_2019\/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg)\n\n[Facebook posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/ \"[TITLE HERE]\")\n\nstated on April 7, 2021 in a Facebook post:\n\n[Says the nation is locked down and there’s “a wide open border.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/apr\/15\/facebook-posts\/facebook-post-makes-false-claim-about-lockdown-ope\/)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n\n![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n\nBy Miriam Valverde • April 15, 2021\n\n### Donald Trump calls the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus.’ Health experts say that’s wrong\n[Clear](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/list\/)\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Tammy_Duckworth_Official_\/58ffe01c91220f92b58d322c1dae4ef4.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Tammy_Duckworth_Official_\/dcbf9fc666c47d1c82df567db779bfed.jpg)\n  \n  [Tammy Duckworth](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/tammy-duckworth\/ \"Tammy Duckworth\")\n  \n  stated on March 18, 2026 in an X post:\n  \n  [“9% of American citizens don't have the identification that the SAVE act requires to vote. Almost 1 in 10.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/20\/tammy-duckworth\/SAVE-America-Act-voter-ID-drivers-licenses-REAL-ID\/)\n  \n  ![mostly-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-mostly-true-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![mostly-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-mostly-true.jpg)\n  \n  By Amy Sherman • March 20, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/US_Sen_Katie_Britt_headshot\/ac1607d85cd3497ede01231d91acbe4b.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/US_Sen_Katie_Britt_headshot\/194e6571b10ade56a2a4cb23c7648019.jpg)\n  \n  [Katie Britt](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/katie-britt\/ \"Katie Britt\")\n  \n  stated on March 19, 2026 in a press conference:\n  \n  [“You can't shovel snow in New York City without an ID.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/20\/katie-britt\/can-you-not-shovel-snow-in-nyc-without-id-fact-che\/)\n  \n  ![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true.jpg)\n  \n  By Amy Sherman • March 20, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19023002795849\/e9548f0ef0832d029d8d1e98dc8dc58a.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/AP_19023002795849\/de553c36816d592cca34c9b6b68c716b.jpg)\n  \n  [Elizabeth Warren](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/elizabeth-warren\/ \"Elizabeth Warren\")\n  \n  stated on March 3, 2026 in in a speech on March 3, 2026:\n  \n  [“In the modern era, no American president has ordered more military strikes against as many different countries as Donald Trump.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/20\/elizabeth-warren\/trump-military-strikes-iran-venezuela\/)\n  \n  ![true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-true-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-true.jpg)\n  \n  By Zoe Weyand • March 20, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/mugs\/Schumer\/ce6b1b7af867e1d073b1fcc0e3203597.JPG)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/mugs\/Schumer\/1464c619916506d504c72ba5b28aa4bd.JPG)\n  \n  [Charles Schumer](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/charles-schumer\/ \"Charles Schumer\")\n  \n  stated on March 17, 2026 in remarks to reporters:\n  \n  [The SAVE America Act “would force Americans to register (to vote) only in person, something only 5% of Americans do today.\"](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/19\/charles-schumer\/voter-registration-save-america-act-in-person\/)\n  \n  ![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true.jpg)\n  \n  By Louis Jacobson • March 19, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Screenshot_2024-07-08_at_5.44.28PM\/660719a36f32430483910bdecc8fca21.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Screenshot_2024-07-08_at_5.44.28PM\/41faae84a414169313dc42ce3582244f.jpg)\n  \n  [Byron Donalds](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/byron-donalds\/ \"Byron Donalds\")\n  \n  stated on March 8, 2026 in an interview:\n  \n  [Florida school districts are the “biggest” drivers of increased property taxes.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/19\/byron-donalds\/school-districts-increase-florida-property-taxes\/)\n  \n  ![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![barely-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-barely-true.jpg)\n  \n  By Samantha Putterman • March 19, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/socialmedia3\/e9244e144527030de445b61561ad0de1.jpeg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/socialmedia3\/dd55caa1d27710286c5817da62931314.jpeg)\n  \n  [Social Media](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/social-media\/ \"Social Media\")\n  \n  stated on March 15, 2026 in social media posts:\n  \n  [Video shows toddler crying over casket of American service member killed in Iran.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/16\/social-media\/video-of-toddler-crying-over-us-service-member-kil\/)\n  \n  ![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n  \n  By Grace Abels • March 16, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/socialmedia3\/e9244e144527030de445b61561ad0de1.jpeg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/socialmedia3\/dd55caa1d27710286c5817da62931314.jpeg)\n  \n  [Social Media](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/social-media\/ \"Social Media\")\n  \n  stated on March 13, 2026 in social media posts:\n  \n  [An AI video is proof that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dead.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/13\/social-media\/netanyahu-dead-video-artificial-intelligence\/)\n  \n  ![pants-fire](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-pants-fire-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![pants-fire](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-pants-fire.jpg)\n  \n  By Loreben Tuquero • March 13, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Chris_Wright_mug\/2f9fd1443bd3ac12f5561f75f324d306.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/Chris_Wright_mug\/d8f5677e859fc4c40726fa83ece7c1fc.jpg)\n  \n  [Chris Wright](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/chris-wright\/ \"Chris Wright\")\n  \n  stated on March 12, 2026 in an interview with Fox News:\n  \n  [The U.S. produces “more oil than we can consume. We’re a net oil exporter.”](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/13\/chris-wright\/us-iran-crude-oil-net-exporter-gas-prices\/)\n  \n  ![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![half-true](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-half-true.jpg)\n  \n  By Louis Jacobson • March 13, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/download_11\/129886c04abe08501b6b6586038fac7a.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/download_11\/0367e36ef90ba2d6653597d8486e415c.jpg)\n  \n  [TikTok posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/tiktok-posts\/ \"TikTok posts\")\n  \n  stated on March 6, 2026 in una publicación en TikTok:\n  \n  [El líder de Corea del Norte Kim Jong Un dijo que “ningún Dios podrá proteger a Estados Unidos de nuestras nuevas armas”.](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/12\/tiktok-posts\/Kim-corea-del-norte-ia-eeuu-dios-armas\/)\n  \n  ![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n  \n  By Maria Briceño • March 12, 2026\n- ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/logo-black\/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/mugs\/logo-black\/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg)\n  \n  [X posts](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/tweets\/ \"X posts\")\n  \n  stated on March 9, 2026 in an X post:\n  \n  [\"BREAKING: So the Israeli media reports Itamar Ben‑Gvir died in a 'car crash,' while in fact he’s been obliterated by an Iranian missile strike on his home.\"](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/11\/tweets\/Israel-Minister-Ben-Gvir-no-dead\/)\n  \n  ![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false-th.jpg)\n  \n  ![false](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/meter-false.jpg)\n  \n  By Maria Briceño • March 11, 2026\n\n[Load more](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/list\/)\n\n#### Offices\n[**District of Columbia**](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/)    \n  1800 I Street NW   \n Washington, DC 20006\n\n[**Florida**](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/mar\/19\/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt\/)   \n  801 3rd St. S   \n St. Petersburg, FL 33701  \n 727-821-9494\n\n#### People\n- [Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/donald-trump\/)\n- [JD Vance](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/jd-vance\/)\n- [Mitch McConnell](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/mitch-mcconnell\/)\n- [Mike Johnson](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/mike-johnson\/)\n- [Joe Biden](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/personalities\/joe-biden\/)\n\n#### State Editions\n- [California](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/california\/)\n- [Florida](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/florida\/)\n- [Iowa](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/iowa\/)\n- [Michigan](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/michigan\/)\n- [New Hampshire](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/new-hampshire\/)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/new-york\/)\n- [North Carolina](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/north-carolina\/)\n- [Pennsylvania](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/pennsylvania\/)\n- [Texas](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/texas\/)\n- [West Virginia](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/west-virginia\/)\n- [Wisconsin](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/wisconsin\/)\n\n#### About Us\n- [Our Process](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2018\/feb\/12\/principles-truth-o-meter-politifacts-methodology-i\/%20)\n- [Our Staff](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/staff\/)\n- [En Español](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/espanol\/)\n- [Who pays for PolitiFact?](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/who-pays-for-politifact\/)\n- [Advertise with Us](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/media-kit\/)\n- [Corrections and Updates](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/corrections-and-updates\/)\n- **[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/signup\/)**\n\n#### RSS Feeds\n- [Recent Articles and Fact-checks](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/rss\/social\/)\n- [Recent Fact-checks](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/rss\/factchecks\/)\n\n[Suggest a Fact-check](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/suggest\/statement\/)\n\n#### Follow us\nThe Facts Newsletter\n\n[Terms & Conditions](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/copyright\/)\n\n[Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/privacy\/)\n\n[Copyright](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/copyright\/)\n\n©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/img\/logo-footer.png)","attrs_readable_markdown":"The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the \"Chinese virus.\" But the World Health Organization, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health experts say that phrasing is wrong.\n\nReporters during White House briefings on the coronavirus have asked Trump why he uses that phrase even when critics say it creates a stigma and is racist.\n\nTrump at a March 17 briefing suggested he was using the term in reaction to moves from China that he didn’t like.\n\n\"Well, China was putting out information which was false, that our military gave this to them,\" [Trump said](https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?470426-1\/president-trump-urges-states-follow-coronavirus-guidelines&start=4343). \"That was false, and rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term. But no, 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.\"\n\nTrump said he didn’t think his preferred phrase created a stigma. \"I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma.\"\n\nOn March 18, Trump again defended his phrasing after a reporter said there had been dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in the United States, and that the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary said ethnicity [does not cause](https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJudyChu\/status\/1233078067981115393) the novel coronavirus.\n\n\"It’s not racist at all, no, not at all,\" [Trump said](https:\/\/twitter.com\/cspan\/status\/1240317057721344010). \"It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate.\"\n\nTrump added that \"China tried to say at one point, maybe they stopped now\" that the coronavirus was caused by American soldiers.\n\nA spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on March 12 suggested, without providing evidence, that the United States was to blame for the coronavirus in China. \"It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,\" Zhao Lijian [tweeted](https:\/\/twitter.com\/zlj517\/status\/1238111898828066823).\n\nThe World Health Organization has [said](https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-coronaviruses) that an outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has not linked it to U.S. troops. China’s initial response to the outbreak has been criticized as [slow](https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-00741-x) [and](https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932) [secretive](https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2020\/03\/06\/china-coronavirus-response-diplomatic-offensive-united-nations-document\/).\n\nStill, applying the word \"Chinese\" to a virus that’s now all around the world, that has upended daily life worldwide, and fueled global anxiety and fear is problematic and stigmatizes Chinese individuals, experts told PolitiFact.\n\n\"We want to keep the focus on the virus, not on ethnicity or racial differences,\" said Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. \"We want to keep the focus on prevention, not increase an us-them divide.\"\n\nAt a March 10 House hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., asked CDC director Robert Redfield whether he agreed that calling the coronavirus the \"Chinese coronavirus\" was \"absolutely wrong and inappropriate.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" [Redfield said](https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?470181-1\/cdc-director-redfield-testifies-coronavirus&live&start=4301).\n\nNeither the White House nor Trump’s re-election campaign provided an on-the-record response for PolitiFact’s story.\n\n![](https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/politifact\/photos\/AP_200785874840581.jpg)\n\n*President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP\/Evan Vucci)*\n\n## Impact of using a geographic term for the virus\nGeographic terms have been adopted in the past for diseases, such as the Spanish flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. And Trump isn’t the only one to have used the phrase \"Chinese virus.\"\n\nA Twitter account managed by Trump’s re-election campaign [tweeted](https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrumpWarRoom\/status\/1238112844283068416?s=20) a 38-second video compiling instances when cable TV news reporters — on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC — used the term \"Chinese coronavirus,\" \"Wuhan coronavirus\" or \"Chinese virus\" when reporting on the outbreak. (PolitiFact used the phrase \"Wuhan coronavirus\" in [headlines](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/jan\/28\/facebook-posts\/claim-reports-10000-dead-wuhan-coronavirus-pants-f\/) [of two January fact-checks](https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/jan\/23\/facebook-posts\/there-outbreak-china-wuhan-coronavirus-there-not-v\/).)\n\nThe March 12 Trump campaign tweet claimed Trump was accused of \"racism and xenophobia for stating the facts.\"\n\n\"This is a foreign virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Just a few weeks ago, Democrats and the media were all saying it!\" the tweet said.\n\nBut experts say it’s best to not name diseases after geographic places.\n\nWHO in 2015 issued [best practices](https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/bitstream\/handle\/10665\/163636\/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=48343DBB8B27057B74192E7373BABEC8?sequence=1) guidance for the naming of new human infectious diseases, with the aim of minimizing \"unnecessary negative impact\" on industries and to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. The guidance said disease names should not include geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions and continents.\n\nThe phrase \"Chinese virus\" could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin, said Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation.\n\nUsing the geographic term suggests that they may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread COVID-19, Petrun Sayers said.\n\n\"These types of assumptions are incorrect, because viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups, and have implications for shaping the general public’s attitudes towards persons of Asian origin,\" Petrun Sayers said.\n\nThe stigma can have a long-lasting effect.\n\n[Research](https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0277953605001760) about [severe acute respiratory syndrome](https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/sars\/index.html), or SARS, says that residents in Hong Kong, near the center of the 2003 outbreak, experienced shunning, insults and exclusion from professional and social circles, Petrun Sayers said. \"Discrimination creates undeserved distress for those affected or believed to be affected and can severely decrease their quality of life,\" she said.\n\nThe term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized, Molina said. \"They will be less likely to seek medical care, which undermines all of our public health,\" she said.\n\nMolina said it’s important to keep in mind how rhetoric affects people.\n\n\"At a time when we are worried about how social isolation is affecting us,\" she said. \"We need to understand that racial animus is only going to make things worse for those groups.\"","meta_canonical":null}

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URL	https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/
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Meta Title	PolitiFact \| Donald Trump calls the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus.’ Health experts say that’s wrong
Meta Description	The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the "Chinese virus." But
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Boilerpipe Text	The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the "Chinese virus." But the World Health Organization, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health experts say that phrasing is wrong. Reporters during White House briefings on the coronavirus have asked Trump why he uses that phrase even when critics say it creates a stigma and is racist. Trump at a March 17 briefing suggested he was using the term in reaction to moves from China that he didn’t like. "Well, China was putting out information which was false, that our military gave this to them," Trump said . "That was false, and rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term. But no, 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 he didn’t think his preferred phrase created a stigma. "I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma." On March 18, Trump again defended his phrasing after a reporter said there had been dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in the United States, and that the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary said ethnicity does not cause the novel coronavirus. "It’s not racist at all, no, not at all," Trump said . "It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate." Trump added that "China tried to say at one point, maybe they stopped now" that the coronavirus was caused by American soldiers. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on March 12 suggested, without providing evidence, that the United States was to blame for the coronavirus in China. "It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan," Zhao Lijian tweeted . The World Health Organization has said that an outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has not linked it to U.S. troops. China’s initial response to the outbreak has been criticized as slow and secretive . Still, applying the word "Chinese" to a virus that’s now all around the world, that has upended daily life worldwide, and fueled global anxiety and fear is problematic and stigmatizes Chinese individuals, experts told PolitiFact. "We want to keep the focus on the virus, not on ethnicity or racial differences," said Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. "We want to keep the focus on prevention, not increase an us-them divide." At a March 10 House hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., asked CDC director Robert Redfield whether he agreed that calling the coronavirus the "Chinese coronavirus" was "absolutely wrong and inappropriate." "Yes," Redfield said . Neither the White House nor Trump’s re-election campaign provided an on-the-record response for PolitiFact’s story. President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci) Impact of using a geographic term for the virus Geographic terms have been adopted in the past for diseases, such as the Spanish flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. And Trump isn’t the only one to have used the phrase "Chinese virus." A Twitter account managed by Trump’s re-election campaign tweeted a 38-second video compiling instances when cable TV news reporters — on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC — used the term "Chinese coronavirus," "Wuhan coronavirus" or "Chinese virus" when reporting on the outbreak. (PolitiFact used the phrase "Wuhan coronavirus" in headlines of two January fact-checks .) The March 12 Trump campaign tweet claimed Trump was accused of "racism and xenophobia for stating the facts." "This is a foreign virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Just a few weeks ago, Democrats and the media were all saying it!" the tweet said. But experts say it’s best to not name diseases after geographic places. WHO in 2015 issued best practices guidance for the naming of new human infectious diseases, with the aim of minimizing "unnecessary negative impact" on industries and to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. The guidance said disease names should not include geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions and continents. The phrase "Chinese virus" could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin, said Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation. Using the geographic term suggests that they may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread COVID-19, Petrun Sayers said. "These types of assumptions are incorrect, because viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups, and have implications for shaping the general public’s attitudes towards persons of Asian origin," Petrun Sayers said. The stigma can have a long-lasting effect. Research about severe acute respiratory syndrome , or SARS, says that residents in Hong Kong, near the center of the 2003 outbreak, experienced shunning, insults and exclusion from professional and social circles, Petrun Sayers said. "Discrimination creates undeserved distress for those affected or believed to be affected and can severely decrease their quality of life," she said. The term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized, Molina said. "They will be less likely to seek medical care, which undermines all of our public health," she said. Molina said it’s important to keep in mind how rhetoric affects people. "At a time when we are worried about how social isolation is affecting us," she said. "We need to understand that racial animus is only going to make things worse for those groups."
Markdown	![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=292850974235854&ev=PageView&noscript=1) [The Poynter Institute](https://www.politifact.com/) [Menu](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/) [Donate](https://www.politifact.com/membership/) State Editions - [California](https://www.politifact.com/california/) - [Florida](https://www.politifact.com/florida/) - [Iowa](https://www.politifact.com/iowa/) - [Michigan](https://www.politifact.com/michigan/) - [New Hampshire](https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/) - [New York](https://www.politifact.com/new-york/) - [North Carolina](https://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/) - [Pennsylvania](https://www.politifact.com/pennsylvania/) - [Texas](https://www.politifact.com/texas/) - [West Virginia](https://www.politifact.com/west-virginia/) - [Wisconsin](https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/) Issues - [All Issues](https://www.politifact.com/issues/) - [Online hoaxes](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker_type=SOCIAL) - [Coronavirus](https://www.politifact.com/coronavirus/) - [Health Care](https://www.politifact.com/health-check/) - [Immigration](https://www.politifact.com/immigration/) - [Extremism](https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/jun/09/political-extremism-public-square-resource-journal/) - [Taxes](https://www.politifact.com/taxes/) - [Marijuana](https://www.politifact.com/marijuana/) - [Environment](https://www.politifact.com/environment/) - [Crime](https://www.politifact.com/crime/) - [Guns](https://www.politifact.com/guns/) - [Foreign Policy](https://www.politifact.com/foreign-policy/) - [LGBTQ+](https://www.politifact.com/lgbtq/) People - [Donald Trump](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/) - [JD Vance](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/jd-vance/) - [Mitch McConnell](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/mitch-mcconnell/) - [Mike Johnson](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/mike-johnson/) - [Joe Biden](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/joe-biden/) Media - [PunditFact](https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/) - [Tucker Carlson](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/tucker-carlson/) - [Sean Hannity](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/sean-hannity/) - [Rachel Maddow](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/rachel-maddow/) - [Bloggers](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/blog-posting/) - [PolitiFact Videos](https://www.politifact.com/videos/) Campaigns - [2024 Elections](https://www.politifact.com/elections/) Truth-o-Meter - [True](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?ruling=true) - [Mostly True](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?ruling=mostly-true) - [Half True](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?ruling=half-true) - [Mostly False](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?ruling=barely-true) - [False](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?ruling=false) - [Pants on Fire](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?ruling=pants-fire) Promises - [MAGA-Meter](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/maga-meter-tracking-donald-trumps-2024-promises/?ruling=true) - [Biden Promise Tracker](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/biden-promise-tracker/?ruling=true) - [Trump-O-Meter](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/?ruling=true) - [Obameter](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/?ruling=true) - [Latest Promises](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/list/) About Us - [Our Process](https://www.politifact.com/article/2018/feb/12/principles-truth-o-meter-politifacts-methodology-i/%20) - [Our Staff](https://www.politifact.com/staff/) - [En Español](https://www.politifact.com/espanol/) - [Who pays for PolitiFact?](https://www.politifact.com/who-pays-for-politifact/) - [Advertise with Us](https://www.politifact.com/media-kit/) - [Suggest a Fact-check](https://www.politifact.com/suggest/statement/) - [Corrections and Updates](https://www.politifact.com/corrections-and-updates/) - [Newsletters](https://www.politifact.com/signup/) [Donate](https://www.politifact.com/membership/) #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter [Sign up](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/) [English](https://www.politifact.com/) [Español](https://www.politifact.com/espanol/) ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. # Donald Trump calls the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus.’ Health experts say that’s wrong - [Health Care](https://www.politifact.com/health-care/ "Health Care") - [Public Health](https://www.politifact.com/public-health/ "Public Health") - [Coronavirus](https://www.politifact.com/coronavirus/ "Coronavirus") ![President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/AP_200785999225631/3be5f3084306555f5fc73a62b50291db.jpg) ![President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)]() ![President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/photos/AP_200785999225631/af239879532c15916ff35d0c429e4a00.jpg) President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci) [![Miriam Valverde](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/staffers/Miriam_Valverde/365bef0143ce267e6674c3811aea7b5b.jpg)](https://www.politifact.com/staff/miriam-valverde/) By [Miriam Valverde](https://www.politifact.com/staff/miriam-valverde/) March 19, 2020 #### If Your Time is short - Experts say the phrase “Chinese virus” could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin. - The stigma from the term can have a long-lasting effect. - The term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized. The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the "Chinese virus." But the World Health Organization, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health experts say that phrasing is wrong. Reporters during White House briefings on the coronavirus have asked Trump why he uses that phrase even when critics say it creates a stigma and is racist. Trump at a March 17 briefing suggested he was using the term in reaction to moves from China that he didn’t like. "Well, China was putting out information which was false, that our military gave this to them," [Trump said](https://www.c-span.org/video/?470426-1/president-trump-urges-states-follow-coronavirus-guidelines&start=4343). "That was false, and rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term. But no, 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 he didn’t think his preferred phrase created a stigma. "I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma." On March 18, Trump again defended his phrasing after a reporter said there had been dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in the United States, and that the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary said ethnicity [does not cause](https://twitter.com/RepJudyChu/status/1233078067981115393) the novel coronavirus. "It’s not racist at all, no, not at all," [Trump said](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1240317057721344010). "It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate." Trump added that "China tried to say at one point, maybe they stopped now" that the coronavirus was caused by American soldiers. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on March 12 suggested, without providing evidence, that the United States was to blame for the coronavirus in China. "It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan," Zhao Lijian [tweeted](https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/1238111898828066823). The World Health Organization has [said](https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses) that an outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has not linked it to U.S. troops. China’s initial response to the outbreak has been criticized as [slow](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x) [and](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932) [secretive](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/06/china-coronavirus-response-diplomatic-offensive-united-nations-document/). Still, applying the word "Chinese" to a virus that’s now all around the world, that has upended daily life worldwide, and fueled global anxiety and fear is problematic and stigmatizes Chinese individuals, experts told PolitiFact. "We want to keep the focus on the virus, not on ethnicity or racial differences," said Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. "We want to keep the focus on prevention, not increase an us-them divide." At a March 10 House hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., asked CDC director Robert Redfield whether he agreed that calling the coronavirus the "Chinese coronavirus" was "absolutely wrong and inappropriate." "Yes," [Redfield said](https://www.c-span.org/video/?470181-1/cdc-director-redfield-testifies-coronavirus&live&start=4301). Neither the White House nor Trump’s re-election campaign provided an on-the-record response for PolitiFact’s story. ![](https://static.politifact.com/politifact/photos/AP_200785874840581.jpg) President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci) ## Impact of using a geographic term for the virus Geographic terms have been adopted in the past for diseases, such as the Spanish flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. And Trump isn’t the only one to have used the phrase "Chinese virus." A Twitter account managed by Trump’s re-election campaign [tweeted](https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1238112844283068416?s=20) a 38-second video compiling instances when cable TV news reporters — on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC — used the term "Chinese coronavirus," "Wuhan coronavirus" or "Chinese virus" when reporting on the outbreak. (PolitiFact used the phrase "Wuhan coronavirus" in [headlines](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jan/28/facebook-posts/claim-reports-10000-dead-wuhan-coronavirus-pants-f/) [of two January fact-checks](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jan/23/facebook-posts/there-outbreak-china-wuhan-coronavirus-there-not-v/).) The March 12 Trump campaign tweet claimed Trump was accused of "racism and xenophobia for stating the facts." "This is a foreign virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Just a few weeks ago, Democrats and the media were all saying it!" the tweet said. But experts say it’s best to not name diseases after geographic places. WHO in 2015 issued [best practices](https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/163636/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=48343DBB8B27057B74192E7373BABEC8?sequence=1) guidance for the naming of new human infectious diseases, with the aim of minimizing "unnecessary negative impact" on industries and to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. The guidance said disease names should not include geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions and continents. The phrase "Chinese virus" could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin, said Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation. Using the geographic term suggests that they may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread COVID-19, Petrun Sayers said. "These types of assumptions are incorrect, because viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups, and have implications for shaping the general public’s attitudes towards persons of Asian origin," Petrun Sayers said. The stigma can have a long-lasting effect. [Research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953605001760) about [severe acute respiratory syndrome](https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html), or SARS, says that residents in Hong Kong, near the center of the 2003 outbreak, experienced shunning, insults and exclusion from professional and social circles, Petrun Sayers said. "Discrimination creates undeserved distress for those affected or believed to be affected and can severely decrease their quality of life," she said. The term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized, Molina said. "They will be less likely to seek medical care, which undermines all of our public health," she said. Molina said it’s important to keep in mind how rhetoric affects people. "At a time when we are worried about how social isolation is affecting us," she said. "We need to understand that racial animus is only going to make things worse for those groups." ### Our Sources C-SPAN, [President Trump and Coronavirus Task Force Hold Briefing](https://www.c-span.org/video/?470426-1/president-trump-urges-states-follow-coronavirus-guidelines&start=4343), March 17, 2020 Phone interview, Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California, March 17, 2020 Email interview, Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation, March 17, 2020 Email interview, Katherine A. Mason, assistant professor of anthropology ay Brown University, March 17, 2020 World Health Organization, [Best practices for naming of new human infectious diseases](https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/163636/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=48343DBB8B27057B74192E7373BABEC8?sequence=1), May 2015; [Q\&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)](https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses), March 9, 2020 Twitter, TrumpWarRoom [tweet](https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1238112844283068416?s=20%5C), March 12, 2020 Twitter, @zlj517 [tweet](https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/1238111898828066823), March 12, 2020 Sciencedirect.com, [The experience of SARS-related stigma at Amoy Gardens](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953605001760), available online May 23, 2005 PolitiFact, [Fact-checking Donald Trump’s mistakes about European travel due to coronavirus](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/12/fact-checking-donald-trumps-mistakes-about-europea/), May 12, 2020 C-SPAN, [House hearing on Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus Response and Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request](https://www.c-span.org/video/?470181-1/cdc-director-redfield-testifies-coronavirus&live&start=4301), March 10, 2020 ForeignPolicy.com, [China Goes on Diplomatic Offensive Over Coronavirus Response](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/06/china-coronavirus-response-diplomatic-offensive-united-nations-document/), March 6, 2020 The New York Times, [China Spins Coronavirus Crisis, Hailing Itself as a Global Leader](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/asia/china-coronavirus-response-propaganda.html), Feb. 28, 2020, updated March 3, 2020 The Wall Street Journal, [How It All Started: China’s Early Coronavirus Missteps](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932), March 6, 2020 CDC, [SARS](https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html), page last reviewed Dec. 6, 2017 Nature.com, [What China’s coronavirus response can teach the rest of the world](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x), March 17, 2020 Twitter, @CSPAN, [tweet](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1240317057721344010), March 18, 2020 Twitter, @RepJudyChu [tweet](https://twitter.com/RepJudyChu/status/1233078067981115393), Feb. 27, 2020 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Miriam Valverde ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Screen_Shot_2021-09-02_at_4.47.08_PM/c759417834e63f5bcad16dcdab4f9627.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Screen_Shot_2021-09-02_at_4.47.08_PM/64d6e2a12382094e334c2731dfa82861.jpg) [Pramila Jayapal](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on August 30, 2021 in an Instagram post: [“The average hospital stay for a case of COVID-19 costs about \$17,064. The vaccine is free.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/sep/02/pramila-jayapal/whats-average-cost-covid-19-hospital-stay/) ![mostly-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-mostly-true-th.jpg) ![mostly-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-mostly-true.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • September 2, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/mitt_romney_june_2021/4af195fe1910e4081660fb9c06d562ce.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/mitt_romney_june_2021/6a9204219471eaeab565b6e7db7a3d99.jpg) [Mitt Romney](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on August 29, 2021 in a CNN interview: [The Trump administration worked to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/aug/31/mitt-romney/mitt-romney-accurately-says-trump-administration-w/) ![true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-true-th.jpg) ![true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-true.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • August 31, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19138732015030/f9e320998ea9ce260bbf19125f796d9a.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19138732015030/6498825a244d1bc9382c3c1786d870fd.jpg) [Joe Biden](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on August 20, 2021 in a press conference: [There has been “no question of our credibility from our allies around the world” regarding how the U.S. is withdrawing from Afghanistan.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/aug/26/joe-biden/fact-checking-joe-biden-us-credibility-military-wi/) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true-th.jpg) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • August 26, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg) [Facebook posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on August 16, 2021 in a Facebook post: [COVID-19 vaccinations are “a violation of the Nuremberg code."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/aug/20/facebook-posts/covid-19-vaccination-does-not-violate-nuremberg-co/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • August 20, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19302682326668/62e3ab631a279ef0aca6ab69978cb0cb.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19302682326668/b79640507d1afdeb0fdff8a638e82a02.jpg) [Ron DeSantis](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on August 4, 2021 in a press conference: [Says Joe Biden has driven the current coronavirus surge because he “imported more virus from around the world by having a wide open southern border.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/aug/06/ron-desantis/ron-desantis-effort-blame-covid-19-spread-migrants/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19302682326668/62e3ab631a279ef0aca6ab69978cb0cb.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19302682326668/b79640507d1afdeb0fdff8a638e82a02.jpg) [Ron DeSantis](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on June 16, 2021 in a press conference: [“That meth … it’s almost all coming across the southern border and it’s been accelerating for the last six months.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/21/ron-desantis/desantis-leaves-out-context-claim-about-meth-and-s/) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true-th.jpg) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • June 21, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg) [Instagram posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on June 4, 2021 in an Instagram post: ["920 women lose their unborn babies after getting vaccinated."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/08/instagram-posts/claim-about-920-miscarriages-caused-covid-19-vacci/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • June 8, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg) [Facebook posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on May 26, 2021 in a Facebook post: [Police defunding is to blame for “skyrocketing murder rates” in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/may/28/facebook-posts/facebook-post-makes-unproven-claim-about-police-fu/) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true-th.jpg) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • May 28, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg) [Facebook posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on May 25, 2021 in a Facebook post: [“Biden agrees to Pelosi's request to resign.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/may/26/facebook-posts/joe-biden-isnt-resigning-and-nancy-pelosi-didnt-as/) ![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-pants-fire-th.jpg) ![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-pants-fire.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • May 26, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg) [Facebook posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on May 17, 2021 in social media posts: [“Gas prices highest in a decade. Worst jobs report in 2 decades. Highest inflation in 3 decades. Highest increase in illegal immigration in 4 decades.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/may/26/facebook-posts/social-media-post-exaggerates-economic-statistics/) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true-th.jpg) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true.jpg) By Louis Jacobson • May 26, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/kevin_mccarthy_2021/1c688bf72b3750878bd068acfcbc2aa5.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/kevin_mccarthy_2021/3ff3f1e13a4e46426c6cbe31646b119b.jpg) [Kevin McCarthy](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on May 12, 2021 in a statement to reporters: ["I don't think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/may/14/kevin-mccarthy/ignoring-claims-his-own-party-kevin-mccarthy-says-/) ![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-pants-fire-th.jpg) ![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-pants-fire.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • May 14, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Screenshot_2024-11-05_at_12.17.42PM/0e72644298ff8c74e38697db3ebc58ba.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Screenshot_2024-11-05_at_12.17.42PM/98e7d786392e108a229a66ebed02f525.jpg) [Kamala Harris](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on May 4, 2021 in a speech: [“The global cost of corruption is as much as 5% of the world's GDP.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/may/07/kamala-harris/kamala-harris-said-corruption-costs-much-5-worlds-/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • May 7, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19302682326668/62e3ab631a279ef0aca6ab69978cb0cb.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19302682326668/b79640507d1afdeb0fdff8a638e82a02.jpg) [Ron DeSantis](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on April 19, 2021 in a speech: [“If you look at some of these places that (reduced police funding), they’ve already seen crime go up."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/may/04/ron-desantis/ron-desantis-misleading-claim-about-crime-police-f/) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true-th.jpg) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • May 4, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/768px-Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg) [Instagram posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on April 22, 2021 in an Instagram post: ["Mountains of data" show drug ivermectin "basically obliterates" COVID-19 transmission.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/apr/23/instagram-posts/fact-checking-claim-about-use-ivermectin-treat-cov/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • April 23, 2021 ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/7ed0f7f43159fdda4e36555173e00d64.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Facebook_Logo_2019/caa2aa7d5b5be4d8c1a06fa4f06aff45.jpg) [Facebook posts](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/ "[TITLE HERE]") stated on April 7, 2021 in a Facebook post: [Says the nation is locked down and there’s “a wide open border.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/apr/15/facebook-posts/facebook-post-makes-false-claim-about-lockdown-ope/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Miriam Valverde • April 15, 2021 ### Donald Trump calls the coronavirus the ‘Chinese virus.’ Health experts say that’s wrong [Clear](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/) - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Tammy_Duckworth_Official_/58ffe01c91220f92b58d322c1dae4ef4.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Tammy_Duckworth_Official_/dcbf9fc666c47d1c82df567db779bfed.jpg) [Tammy Duckworth](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/tammy-duckworth/ "Tammy Duckworth") stated on March 18, 2026 in an X post: [“9% of American citizens don't have the identification that the SAVE act requires to vote. Almost 1 in 10.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/20/tammy-duckworth/SAVE-America-Act-voter-ID-drivers-licenses-REAL-ID/) ![mostly-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-mostly-true-th.jpg) ![mostly-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-mostly-true.jpg) By Amy Sherman • March 20, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/US_Sen_Katie_Britt_headshot/ac1607d85cd3497ede01231d91acbe4b.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/US_Sen_Katie_Britt_headshot/194e6571b10ade56a2a4cb23c7648019.jpg) [Katie Britt](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/katie-britt/ "Katie Britt") stated on March 19, 2026 in a press conference: [“You can't shovel snow in New York City without an ID.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/20/katie-britt/can-you-not-shovel-snow-in-nyc-without-id-fact-che/) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true-th.jpg) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true.jpg) By Amy Sherman • March 20, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19023002795849/e9548f0ef0832d029d8d1e98dc8dc58a.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/AP_19023002795849/de553c36816d592cca34c9b6b68c716b.jpg) [Elizabeth Warren](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/elizabeth-warren/ "Elizabeth Warren") stated on March 3, 2026 in in a speech on March 3, 2026: [“In the modern era, no American president has ordered more military strikes against as many different countries as Donald Trump.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/20/elizabeth-warren/trump-military-strikes-iran-venezuela/) ![true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-true-th.jpg) ![true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-true.jpg) By Zoe Weyand • March 20, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/mugs/Schumer/ce6b1b7af867e1d073b1fcc0e3203597.JPG) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/mugs/Schumer/1464c619916506d504c72ba5b28aa4bd.JPG) [Charles Schumer](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/charles-schumer/ "Charles Schumer") stated on March 17, 2026 in remarks to reporters: [The SAVE America Act “would force Americans to register (to vote) only in person, something only 5% of Americans do today."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/19/charles-schumer/voter-registration-save-america-act-in-person/) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true-th.jpg) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true.jpg) By Louis Jacobson • March 19, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Screenshot_2024-07-08_at_5.44.28PM/660719a36f32430483910bdecc8fca21.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Screenshot_2024-07-08_at_5.44.28PM/41faae84a414169313dc42ce3582244f.jpg) [Byron Donalds](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/byron-donalds/ "Byron Donalds") stated on March 8, 2026 in an interview: [Florida school districts are the “biggest” drivers of increased property taxes.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/19/byron-donalds/school-districts-increase-florida-property-taxes/) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true-th.jpg) ![barely-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-barely-true.jpg) By Samantha Putterman • March 19, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/socialmedia3/e9244e144527030de445b61561ad0de1.jpeg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/socialmedia3/dd55caa1d27710286c5817da62931314.jpeg) [Social Media](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/social-media/ "Social Media") stated on March 15, 2026 in social media posts: [Video shows toddler crying over casket of American service member killed in Iran.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/16/social-media/video-of-toddler-crying-over-us-service-member-kil/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Grace Abels • March 16, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/socialmedia3/e9244e144527030de445b61561ad0de1.jpeg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/socialmedia3/dd55caa1d27710286c5817da62931314.jpeg) [Social Media](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/social-media/ "Social Media") stated on March 13, 2026 in social media posts: [An AI video is proof that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dead.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/13/social-media/netanyahu-dead-video-artificial-intelligence/) ![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-pants-fire-th.jpg) ![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-pants-fire.jpg) By Loreben Tuquero • March 13, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Chris_Wright_mug/2f9fd1443bd3ac12f5561f75f324d306.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/Chris_Wright_mug/d8f5677e859fc4c40726fa83ece7c1fc.jpg) [Chris Wright](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/chris-wright/ "Chris Wright") stated on March 12, 2026 in an interview with Fox News: [The U.S. produces “more oil than we can consume. We’re a net oil exporter.”](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/13/chris-wright/us-iran-crude-oil-net-exporter-gas-prices/) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true-th.jpg) ![half-true](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-half-true.jpg) By Louis Jacobson • March 13, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/download_11/129886c04abe08501b6b6586038fac7a.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/download_11/0367e36ef90ba2d6653597d8486e415c.jpg) [TikTok posts](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/tiktok-posts/ "TikTok posts") stated on March 6, 2026 in una publicación en TikTok: [El líder de Corea del Norte Kim Jong Un dijo que “ningún Dios podrá proteger a Estados Unidos de nuestras nuevas armas”.](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/12/tiktok-posts/Kim-corea-del-norte-ia-eeuu-dios-armas/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Maria Briceño • March 12, 2026 - ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/logo-black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg) ![](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/mugs/logo-black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg) [X posts](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/tweets/ "X posts") stated on March 9, 2026 in an X post: ["BREAKING: So the Israeli media reports Itamar Ben‑Gvir died in a 'car crash,' while in fact he’s been obliterated by an Iranian missile strike on his home."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/mar/11/tweets/Israel-Minister-Ben-Gvir-no-dead/) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false-th.jpg) ![false](https://static.politifact.com/img/meter-false.jpg) By Maria Briceño • March 11, 2026 [Load more](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/) #### Offices [District of Columbia](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/) 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 [Florida](https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/19/donald-trump-calls-coronavirus-chinese-virus-healt/) 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People - [Donald Trump](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/) - [JD Vance](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/jd-vance/) - [Mitch McConnell](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/mitch-mcconnell/) - [Mike Johnson](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/mike-johnson/) - [Joe Biden](https://www.politifact.com/personalities/joe-biden/) #### State Editions - [California](https://www.politifact.com/california/) - [Florida](https://www.politifact.com/florida/) - [Iowa](https://www.politifact.com/iowa/) - [Michigan](https://www.politifact.com/michigan/) - [New Hampshire](https://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/) - [New York](https://www.politifact.com/new-york/) - [North Carolina](https://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/) - [Pennsylvania](https://www.politifact.com/pennsylvania/) - [Texas](https://www.politifact.com/texas/) - [West Virginia](https://www.politifact.com/west-virginia/) - [Wisconsin](https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/) #### About Us - [Our Process](https://www.politifact.com/article/2018/feb/12/principles-truth-o-meter-politifacts-methodology-i/%20) - [Our Staff](https://www.politifact.com/staff/) - [En Español](https://www.politifact.com/espanol/) - [Who pays for PolitiFact?](https://www.politifact.com/who-pays-for-politifact/) - [Advertise with Us](https://www.politifact.com/media-kit/) - [Corrections and Updates](https://www.politifact.com/corrections-and-updates/) - [Newsletters](https://www.politifact.com/signup/) #### RSS Feeds - [Recent Articles and Fact-checks](https://www.politifact.com/rss/social/) - [Recent Fact-checks](https://www.politifact.com/rss/factchecks/) [Suggest a Fact-check](https://www.politifact.com/suggest/statement/) #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter [Terms & Conditions](https://www.politifact.com/copyright/) [Privacy Policy](https://www.politifact.com/privacy/) [Copyright](https://www.politifact.com/copyright/) ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![](https://static.politifact.com/img/logo-footer.png)
Readable Markdown	The way President Donald Trump sees it, there’s nothing wrong with calling the new coronavirus the "Chinese virus." But the World Health Organization, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other health experts say that phrasing is wrong. Reporters during White House briefings on the coronavirus have asked Trump why he uses that phrase even when critics say it creates a stigma and is racist. Trump at a March 17 briefing suggested he was using the term in reaction to moves from China that he didn’t like. "Well, China was putting out information which was false, that our military gave this to them," [Trump said](https://www.c-span.org/video/?470426-1/president-trump-urges-states-follow-coronavirus-guidelines&start=4343). "That was false, and rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China. So, I think it’s a very accurate term. But no, 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 he didn’t think his preferred phrase created a stigma. "I think saying that our military gave it to them creates a stigma." On March 18, Trump again defended his phrasing after a reporter said there had been dozens of incidents of bias against Chinese Americans in the United States, and that the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary said ethnicity [does not cause](https://twitter.com/RepJudyChu/status/1233078067981115393) the novel coronavirus. "It’s not racist at all, no, not at all," [Trump said](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1240317057721344010). "It comes from China. That’s why. It comes from China. I want to be accurate." Trump added that "China tried to say at one point, maybe they stopped now" that the coronavirus was caused by American soldiers. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on March 12 suggested, without providing evidence, that the United States was to blame for the coronavirus in China. "It might be U.S. army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan," Zhao Lijian [tweeted](https://twitter.com/zlj517/status/1238111898828066823). The World Health Organization has [said](https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses) that an outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It has not linked it to U.S. troops. China’s initial response to the outbreak has been criticized as [slow](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x) [and](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-it-all-started-chinas-early-coronavirus-missteps-11583508932) [secretive](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/06/china-coronavirus-response-diplomatic-offensive-united-nations-document/). Still, applying the word "Chinese" to a virus that’s now all around the world, that has upended daily life worldwide, and fueled global anxiety and fear is problematic and stigmatizes Chinese individuals, experts told PolitiFact. "We want to keep the focus on the virus, not on ethnicity or racial differences," said Natalia Molina, a professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. "We want to keep the focus on prevention, not increase an us-them divide." At a March 10 House hearing, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., asked CDC director Robert Redfield whether he agreed that calling the coronavirus the "Chinese coronavirus" was "absolutely wrong and inappropriate." "Yes," [Redfield said](https://www.c-span.org/video/?470181-1/cdc-director-redfield-testifies-coronavirus&live&start=4301). Neither the White House nor Trump’s re-election campaign provided an on-the-record response for PolitiFact’s story. ![](https://static.politifact.com/politifact/photos/AP_200785874840581.jpg) President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci) ## Impact of using a geographic term for the virus Geographic terms have been adopted in the past for diseases, such as the Spanish flu and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. And Trump isn’t the only one to have used the phrase "Chinese virus." A Twitter account managed by Trump’s re-election campaign [tweeted](https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1238112844283068416?s=20) a 38-second video compiling instances when cable TV news reporters — on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC — used the term "Chinese coronavirus," "Wuhan coronavirus" or "Chinese virus" when reporting on the outbreak. (PolitiFact used the phrase "Wuhan coronavirus" in [headlines](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jan/28/facebook-posts/claim-reports-10000-dead-wuhan-coronavirus-pants-f/) [of two January fact-checks](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jan/23/facebook-posts/there-outbreak-china-wuhan-coronavirus-there-not-v/).) The March 12 Trump campaign tweet claimed Trump was accused of "racism and xenophobia for stating the facts." "This is a foreign virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Just a few weeks ago, Democrats and the media were all saying it!" the tweet said. But experts say it’s best to not name diseases after geographic places. WHO in 2015 issued [best practices](https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/163636/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=48343DBB8B27057B74192E7373BABEC8?sequence=1) guidance for the naming of new human infectious diseases, with the aim of minimizing "unnecessary negative impact" on industries and to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups. The guidance said disease names should not include geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions and continents. The phrase "Chinese virus" could foster discrimination toward people of Chinese or Asian origin, said Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, a behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation. Using the geographic term suggests that they may be more susceptible to the virus and more likely to spread COVID-19, Petrun Sayers said. "These types of assumptions are incorrect, because viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups, and have implications for shaping the general public’s attitudes towards persons of Asian origin," Petrun Sayers said. The stigma can have a long-lasting effect. [Research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953605001760) about [severe acute respiratory syndrome](https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html), or SARS, says that residents in Hong Kong, near the center of the 2003 outbreak, experienced shunning, insults and exclusion from professional and social circles, Petrun Sayers said. "Discrimination creates undeserved distress for those affected or believed to be affected and can severely decrease their quality of life," she said. The term can also hold back individuals from seeking medical care out of fear of being stigmatized, Molina said. "They will be less likely to seek medical care, which undermines all of our public health," she said. Molina said it’s important to keep in mind how rhetoric affects people. "At a time when we are worried about how social isolation is affecting us," she said. "We need to understand that racial animus is only going to make things worse for those groups."
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