US President Donald Trump has repeated his accusation that China was responsible for the emerging Coronavirus, using the expression “Kung flu.”
The phrase is a play on “kung fu,” which refers to the famous Chinese martial art. Trump introduced the expression during his June 20 campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
During another rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Trump listed several names for the virus, including “Wuhan,” and “kung flu,” which was welcomed by those present during his speech.
He added that some also called it “Chinese flu,” a term which he himself has repeatedly used.
Trump had previously said he was confident that the virus was created in a Chinese virology laboratory.
Since the outbreak in China, several countries and international institutions, including the United States, have accused Beijing of ambiguity and of covering up the spread of the virus, and the US president said that withholding information allowed the epidemic to spread around the world.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro recently accused China of plotting to “seed” the virus, deliberately spreading it around the world by sending hundreds of thousands of its citizens abroad.
The Rand Research Center found in a recent study that there is strong evidence that the infection number reported in China is nearly 40 times less than the actual number, based on the researchers’ monitoring of commercial air traffic between countries.
The US is currently the worst affected country by the pandemic with over 2.39 million reported cases and more than 123,000 fatalities, as of June 24.
Scientists are racing time to create a vaccine or treatment in order to successfully curb the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump is seeking re-election in November against former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, who will be the Democratic Party’s candidate.
