During Wednesday’s broadcast of The View, conservative co-host Meghan McCain applauded President Donald Trump for insisting on calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus,” saying “P.C.” liberals will get him “re-elected” if they keep harping on it. His use of the racial term is “effective,” she said.
Long-time host Whoopi Goldberg kicked off the program by noting that she was broadcasting from her home, noting that while her doctor said she was fine to appear on-set, she preferred to be overly cautious due to the ever-shifting local and national guidelines amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The opening topic, meanwhile, focused on Trump’s defense of his nickname for the coronavirus, which he claims he uses as retaliation against Chinese officials attempting to blame the U.S. military for the disease. After Goldberg said she didn’t recall China ever making these claims, guest host Dan Abrams noted that “it’s clear that some Chinese officials are definitely trying to send out this message.”
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Abrams went on to say that this is one of those issues that if “many on the left get too focused” on it, then “Trump’s going to win on this.”
“Do I think he should be calling it the Chinese virus? No,” he added. “But I think it’s a losing argument for the left to make because I think the vast majority of Americans are going to say, ‘Who cares?’”
After guest-host Sara Haines said that this feels like Trump is trying to “politicize” the pandemic by using the title and that he should just call it COVID-19 and stick with facts, Goldberg noted that there has already been backlash against Asian-Americans.
McCain, however, jumped in to say she didn’t have an issue with the use of the term since the Chinese government had initially tried to suppress information about the virus, adding that she agreed with Abrams that the left will lose on the issue.
“I agree with you that I think if the left wants to focus on P.C. labeling this virus, it is a great way to get Trump re-elected,” she stated. “I don’t have a problem with people calling it whatever they want. It’s a deadly virus that did originate in Wuhan.”
“I don’t have a problem with it, and I think China, had they acted right away, and we had more access to information, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten to the place that it is,” McCain continued. “That doesn’t mean that we should be, in any way, stereotyping.”
Goldberg, meanwhile, interjected that we shouldn’t be “pointing fingers” or using the virus to “stereotype,” prompting McCain to point to her Twitter feed as proof that she’s not a “proponent” of racial targeting before commending Trump for his China stance.
“There’s a lot of anger about our reliance on the Chinese government right now, and our reliance on China in so many ways,” she said. “And that messaging from President Trump and his messaging from the very beginning that we need to remove our trade from China is going to be very effective going into 2020.”
Goldberg and co-host Sunny Hostin both attempted to retort, causing McCain to complain that she couldn’t “tell who is yelling” at her.
“No one’s yelling,” Goldberg replied. "I’m just trying to make sure you can hear me. I’m simply saying it’s the same thing as saying Mexicans and rapists are coming here to get Americans.”
“And you know that that was,” McCain shot back.”It’s effective.”
Goldberg, for her part, noted that while “it was effective” it was “not correct," concluding by once again expressing concern for Asian-Americans facing retaliatory violence.
