Last Updated on March 11, 2020
With the number of those infected by the coronavirus breaking the six-figure barrier on a global level, many calls by progressive voices to resist urges of finger-pointing or ‘racism’ surrounding the origin of the deadly disease, have surfaced.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is no stranger to the occasional hot take. This time, in a short clip tweeted by Daily Caller contributor, Eddie Zipperer, the progressive starlet made the controversial assertion.
In the tweet, Zipperer captions a direct quote from the video: “.@AOC: “People are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants, they’re not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight up racism around the Coronavirus.”
.@AOC: "People are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants, they're not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight up racism around the Coronavirus." pic.twitter.com/2tTabQCIdW
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) March 11, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez, in the video, starts off by saying: “It sounds so silly to say, but there’s a lot of restaurants that are feeling the pain of racism.”
She continues, as captioned in the tweet: “Where people are literally not patroning [sic] Chinese restaurants, they’re not patroning [sic] Asian restaurants because of just straight up racism around the Coronavirus.”
The video in the tweet drew derision and confusion among social media users.
One top comment inquired: “Dead serious here: What is wrong with her? Has anyone tried to get to the bottom of it?”
Dead serious here: What is wrong with her? Has anyone tried to get to the bottom of it?
— Davis (@GIass_Onion) March 11, 2020
While another added: “Getting really tired of the “Racism” accusations coming from these idiots. It is the same old story everything is racist. Does she use her brain to actually think that people are avoiding all restaurants at this time? BTW I had Chinese food from a Chinese restaurant 2 nights ago.”
https://twitter.com/KarenLynnBNB/status/1237730214077181953
A third said: “Congresswoman, do you have any empirical data that shows Americans are avoiding eating at Asian restaurants any more than they are avoiding eating out in general? It’s easy to see racism everywhere, if it is to your benefit to do so. Confirmation bias is hard to overcome.”
Congresswoman, do you have any empirical data that shows Americans are avoiding eating at Asian restaurants any more than they are avoiding eating out in general? It’s easy to see racism everywhere, if it is to your benefit to do so. Confirmation bias is hard to overcome.
— Dinkledash (@Dinkeldash) March 11, 2020
The Covid-19 coronavirus has paralyzed schools and public services across several countries out of fears that the deadly disease might spread.
Tens of millions in China–and tens of thousands in Italy–have experienced severe travel restrictions.
In Iran, dozens died after unscrupulous bootleggers concocted an alcohol-based preventative cure for the coronavirus from methanol and bleach.
