New York Mayor Bill de Blasio decried the tweet, saying it misplaces blame.

Over the last couple of weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has caused ripple effects all across the globe. Hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans are occurring with growing frequency. A tweet from President Donald Trump added fuel to the fire on Monday.

“The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries,” he tweeted. “Like airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”

Days before the tweet, the Center for Disease Control director Robert Redfield warned against geographically labeling the virus. In a hearing, Democratic representative Lois Frankel asked Redfield, “it’s absolutely wrong and inappropriate to call this the Chinese coronavirus, I assume you would agree with that?” Redfield agreed,

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus called on legislators to help prevent “hysteria, ignorant attacks, and racist assaults that have been fueled by misinformation pertaining to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)” by sharing only confirmed verifiable information.

Going up fast. We need the Wall more than ever! https://t.co/7TxErJKAgT

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 10, 2020

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