The Brief: The 'Kung Flu' is a derogatory term that transformed into a hashtag said by a White House official that is used in reference to the Coronavirus that derived from China.
DEEP DIVE
The ‘Kung Flu’ is a disparaging term and hashtag used in place of the Coronavirus that originally came from China.
On March 17 2020, a White House official told Asian American White House Correspondent, Weijia Jiang this ‘Kung Flu’ label of the disease that has killed 112 Americans and infected over 100,000 people globally.
This morning a White House official referred to #Coronavirus as the “Kung-Flu” to my face. Makes me wonder what they’re calling it behind my back.
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) March 17, 2020
Of course, this released statement took Twitter by storm and resulted in a viral post that accumulated over half a billion likes. Trump responded to this statement on March 18, 2020, outlining his frustration of the term being mentioned during one of his presidential press conferences.
.@Yamiche: "A person at the White House used the term 'kung flu'…Do you think that's wrong? And do you think using the term 'Chinese virus' puts Asian-Americans at risk?"
TRUMP: "No, not at all."
Absolutely despicable. pic.twitter.com/V0STFbROHY
— CAP Action (@CAPAction) March 18, 2020