On Friday, MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin expressed relief that Democratic Massachusetts Congressman and failed 2020 presidential candidate Seth Moulton had withdrawn his support for a supposedly “xenophobic” House resolution condemning China’s authoritarian regime for its mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Do you regret initially signing on to that? I mean, critics call the measures xenophobic and I think a lot of people were surprised to see your name, in particular, assigned to that or part of that,” Mohyeldin lectured the liberal lawmaker during an interview early in the 10:00 a.m. ET hour.
Moulton started off by explaining why he initially thought the resolution was a good idea:
So as a member of Congress who focuses a lot of my work on national security issues, I signed on because China is our biggest geo-strategic threat and I’m troubled by the Chinese Communist Party’s disinformation campaign to blame the U.S. military for the creation of COVID-19. And also by many of the ways the Chinese government has handled this crisis, from downplaying the pandemic, kicking out American journalists, and continuing to persecute the Uyghurs.
Though he then bizarrely tried to equate the repressive communist dictatorship with the Trump administration: “I think it’s important to highlight the playbook that authoritarian governments like China use so that we can also call out President Trump for using many of the same tactics here at home, downplaying the pandemic, kicking out American journalists from his own press conferences when he doesn’t like their questions.”
When it came to his decision to abandon any formal condemnation of China, the Democratic Congressman predictably blamed President Trump:
But the problem is that instead, the resolution has caused division. The substance, which is not xenophobic at all, overshadowed by President Trump’s divisive, xenophobic attempts to deflect from his administration’s abysmal response to this virus. I’ve heard from many friends and colleagues, particularly members of the Asian-American community, you know, who were hurt, and legitimately hurt, at a time when our – when their community is under assault by racists right here at home in America.
Moulton went on to ask forgiveness from the far-left of his party: “So I apologize for that and I’m withdrawing my support for the resolution for that reason.”
Mohyeldin seemed to speak on their behalf as he granted absolution to his guest: “Yeah, and I certainly appreciate your candor. I was going to note that there were about 650 incidents of racism or violence against Asia Americans in the past week alone. So we certainly appreciate your position on that.”
Back on March 12, Mohyeldin seized on the notion that it was “very derogatory, offensive” to label the disease “Chinese coronavirus.”
China’s totalitarian leadership must be quite pleased that so many in the American media and Democratic Party are refusing to call out the regime’s role in causing the global pandemic.
Here is a transcript of the March 27 exchange:
10:08 AM ET
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AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Let me ask you about resolution that you withdrew from in the past 24 hours. It was essentially withdrawing from a resolution that condemned China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Do you regret initially signing on to that? I mean, critics call the measures xenophobic and I think a lot of people were surprised to see your name, in particular, assigned to that or part of that. Walk us through your thinking about why first being involved with it and then the withdrawal.
REP. SETH MOULTON [D-MA]: Yeah, sure. So as a member of Congress who focuses a lot of my work on national security issues, I signed on because China is our biggest geo-strategic threat and I’m troubled by the Chinese Communist Party’s disinformation campaign to blame the U.S. military for the creation of COVID-19. And also by many of the ways the Chinese government has handled this crisis, from downplaying the pandemic, kicking out American journalists, and continuing to persecute the Uyghurs.
I think it’s important to highlight the playbook that authoritarian governments like China use so that we can also call out President Trump for using many of the same tactics here at home, downplaying the pandemic, kicking out American journalists from his own press conferences when he doesn’t like their questions.
But the problem is that instead, the resolution has caused division. The substance, which is not xenophobic at all, overshadowed by President Trump’s divisive, xenophobic attempts to deflect from his administration’s abysmal response to this virus. I’ve heard from many friends and colleagues, particularly members of the Asian-American community, you know, who were hurt, and legitimately hurt, at a time when our – when their community is under assault by racists right here at home in America.
So I apologize for that and I’m withdrawing my support for the resolution for that reason. I’ve been someone who’s spoken in stark terms about racism in America and the dangerousness of Trump. And so the way the resolution has been used is unacceptable to me.
MOHYELDIN: Yeah, and I certainly appreciate your candor. I was going to note that there were about 650 incidents of racism or violence against Asia Americans in the past week alone. So we certainly appreciate your position on that.
(...)
