After the Wednesday coronavirus task force held a press conference on the latest developments surrounding the government's plans to fight the virus, MSNBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel joined an extended Andrea Mitchell Reports panel to accuse President Trump and others of having a medieval approach of "scapegoating against an ethnic group" when they refer to COVID-19 by other names.
Engel began his torching of this particular strawman by declaring, "It is easy to scapegoat people and that is what has always happened when there have been pandemics or epidemics that foreigners are attacked."
Reaching for a historical analogy he added, "Foreigners sometimes physically attacked, if you look at what happened during the Middle Ages. There was lots and lots of scapegoating against an ethnic group or a religious group whenever there were pandemics that affected the society and frightened a lot of people."
Except nobody has scapegoated the entire Chinese people. They've simply pointed out that if the Chinese Communist Party cared more about the Chinese people than their own hold on domestic power and global power ambitions than we would not be in the position of having to shut down down society for the foreseeable future. Indeed, nobody has paid more for the sins of the CCP since the Chinese Revolution than the Chinese people themselves.
Engel continued his strawman burning by unintentionally proving Trump's point, "This is a virus that came from the territory of China but came from bats. This is a bat virus, not a China virus. It doesn't speak Chinese. It doesn't target Chinese people. It targets human beings who happen to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth." Exactly, it comes from bats, not the U.S. Army, as Chinese diplomats and propagandists are claiming.
Here is a transcript for Engel's March 18 remarks:
MSNBC
Andrea Mitchell Reports
1:13 PM ET
RICHARD ENGEL: Going back to what you were talking about earlier, it is easy to scapegoat people and that is what has always happened when there have been pandemics or epidemics that foreigners are attacked. Foreigners sometimes physically attacked, if you look at what happened during the Middle Ages. There was lots and lots of scapegoating against an ethnic group or a religious group whenever there were pandemics that affected the society and frightened a lot of people. China certainly feels that is what's happening now with people calling it the Wuhan Flu or the Wuhan Virus or the China Virus. This is a virus that came from the territory of China but came from bats. This is a bat virus, not a China virus. It doesn't speak Chinese. It doesn't target Chinese people. It targets human beings who happen to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth.
