Democrats, media, Chinese Communist Party on war footing

FPI / March 18, 2020

Against what one would think would be angry international opinion at the havoc brought by the coronavirus, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is cranking out propaganda 24/7 that is aimed at downplaying its own response to the outbreak while criticizing that of the Trump Administration. And U.S. Democrats and their major media allies are happy to oblige, analysts say, siding with a hostile foreign power.

"China has long relied on the president’s critics in the U.S. to pick up messaging critical of the White House and push it through the domestic anti-Trump megaphone," James Jay Carafano, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at The Heritage Foundation, wrote in a March 17 Fox News analysis.

"For example, when U.S. officials started referring to COVID-19 as the 'Wuhan Virus,' (a name earlier propagated by the media), the regime in Beijing objected that the term was somehow 'racist.' Some on the American Left — including members of the media who had used the term themselves — quickly picked up and repeated the accusation."

Since the second he took the oath of office, Trump has faced constant criticism from the Left and corporate media. Since the start of his presidency, Trump has not backed down in the face of the barrage of criticism. He isn't doing it on his administration's response to the coronavirus either.

The president tweeted on Wednesday: "I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the “borders” from China - against the wishes of almost all. Many lives were saved. The Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false!"

Conservative analyst Jed Babbin, who co-writes the Washington Exmainer's Weekly White House Report Card, said that there is no reason to be delicate with the Chinese or to give in to critics. “The coronavirus is as Chinese as Peking duck. But don’t panic. You can’t catch ‘kung flu' from Chinese takeout,” he said.

With the CCP's propaganda now blaming the U.S. military for starting the crisis, American officials are brushing away criticism and hitting China anew with the “Chinese Virus” and “Wuhan Virus” slam.

“You’ve got to call it what it is — the Chinese Virus. That’s where it came from, and we’re all dealing with the consequences from the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of disinformation on this global threat,” said a senior administration official.

What Democrats and the major media want to call it is "Trump's fault."

A Democratic Party-aligned super PAC reportedly plans a digital advertising campaign to attack the president’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday: "A Democratic super PAC said Tuesday it would spend $5 million on digital advertising flaying President Trump for his response to the novel coronavirus, one of several groups that planned to devote resources to this type of messaging. According to the Post, the $5 million ad buy is only one of several similar efforts by left-wing groups to capitalize on the coronavirus outbreak."

The Post quoted Tara McGowan, the founder and chief executive of Acronym, as saying it was critical for outside groups like hers to exact a political price on Trump as his Democratic opponents allegedly aim to "project leadership by staying above the fray."

But, Breitbart News noted, Biden and Sanders have hardly stayed “above the fray.” Neither has offered support to the president, and both have been scathing in their attacks.

Biden — who called Trump’s January travel ban on China “hysterical” and “racist” — criticized the president and released his own plan, while opposing travel bans from China, Europe, “or any other part of the world.”

Sanders called for Trump to be replaced on the coronavirus issue by “experts” and Congress — and said he should be “shut up.”

Failed Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg pledged $40 million to the fight against coronavirus — a small fraction of the fortune he spent on his campaign, which cost over half a billion dollars.

Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said “it is laughable" that Biden's allies "would launch this attack when Americans can see for themselves through daily public briefings that President Trump and his team are on the case and have been so since before Joe Biden even woke up to the situation."

Free Press International