© REUTERS/Andrew KellyU.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to media before participating in a Census Town Hall at the Louis Armstrong Middle School in Queens, New York City, U.S., February 22, 2020.
"Corona, Queens is the most heavily COVID-impacted zip code in America," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "I can tell you 1st hand that many ppl are too scared to go to the hospital & continue to work bc of Trump's xenophobic COVID response."
Among the reasons the congresswoman cites as evidence of Trump's xenophobia is his alleged targeting of the "Asian community in his rhetoric & TV ads" and "late, little, or no translation of public health mandates into multiple languages."
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has also accused Trump of "xenophobia" when the president called the coronavirus a "foreign virus."
Others have decided that xenophobia aptly describes Trump's decision to identify the COVID-19 virus as originating in China — as it did. CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta said Trump calling the COVID-19 virus a "foreign virus" would be seen by "a lot of Americans as smacking of xenophobia."
Comedian Stephen Colbert said it was "very racist" of Trump to blame China for the coronavirus outbreak. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also claimed it was "racist rhetoric" to link China and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comment: So let's get this straight - because Trump called the virus "foreign" and has referred to it as the "China virus" people are afraid to go to the hospital? How fragile does AOC think her constituents are? If people really are afraid to go to the hospital, which is debatable, isn't it more likely that they've succumbed to the constant fear-mongering about the virus played 24/7 in the MSM and on social media? They really seem to be giving enormous power to Trump's innocuous words. He's not a wizard.