CNN Criticizing China Is No Longer Racist. What Changed?

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the legacy media have actively conspired with the Democratic Party — as part of their last-ditch attempt to gain power — to blame Donald Trump for any negative outcome of the virus. Trump was even accused of being responsible for every single death in the United States due to COVID-19, with Joe Biden offering the laughably absurd claim that “If the president had done his job, had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive. All the people. I’m not making this up. Just look at the data.”

The ability to blame your opponent for anything and everything is, unfortunately, a central theme of our cynical and deceitful modern political system. With the support of the media, however, the Democrats were able to take this to an unprecedented extreme. For example, with their ironclad grip of the narrative, the Democrats and the legacy media were able to claim that Trump’s early actions (such as the crucial closure of international flights) was rooted in xenophobia, and then simultaneously declare that Democratic mayors and governors were “heroes” of the pandemic. The fact that Andrew Cuomo, whose COVID-19 policies resulted in the worst death statistics in the nation, will receive an International Emmy for “masterful briefings” proves just how willing the Left are to create and defend the false reality they rely upon. Weighing a mere 12.5 ounces, an Emmy statuette will presumably be a far easier burden to bear than the deaths of almost 35,000 people. Life is easy when you can blame Trump for quite literally everything.

However, none of these “smaller” lies would have been possible had it not been for the greatest lie of all: that China was not responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the mere suggestion that China was to blame was met with condemnation. You were a bigot, responsible for appalling anti-Asian American racism. With early names such as the “Chinese Coronavirus” or “Wuhan virus” dismissed as unquestionably racist, Democrats actively attempted to “re-brand” COVID-19. Cuomo even called COVID-19 the “European virus.” This is like saying that stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way to work means that you live in that fast food restaurant.

Now that Joe Biden and his replacement-in-waiting, Kamala Harris, have been preemptively announced as President and Vice President (elect), the narrative must change. With the only idea being proposed by the “pro-science” Biden being to “ask” citizens to wear masks for 100 days, the Left need to prepare a back-up scapegoat if COVID-19 doesn’t disappear on January 20th. This is why, after months of defending or ignoring the actions of the Chinese communist regime, outlets like CNN have suddenly discovered that — horror of horrors — China are the bad guys in “2020: The Movie.”

Don’t forget. Just two months ago, CNN published an analysis piece titled “Trump has repeatedly blamed China for a virus that now threatens his health. This will make Beijing nervous,” describing Trump’s correct description of the virus as “China’s fault” as an example of “consistently play[ing] up initial failures by Beijing.” One paragraph performs logical summersaults to equate the morality or reliability of the American and Chinese political infrastructure.

Trump’s rhetoric has angered Beijing, which has in turn highlighted Washington’s own mishandling of the virus through state media and in official comments. Many countries closer to China and exposed to the virus earlier have nevertheless handled it far better than the US, and most experts are critical of how Trump has responded to the pandemic.

Later in October, CNN also published a drooling piece titled “As many countries struggle to plan weeks ahead, China just set its agenda for the next 15 years.” Of course, it’s easy to plan ahead when the lives of your citizens hold no value. A few days earlier, the same author also wrote that “China’s Covid success compared to Europe shows lockdowns are the first step, not a solution.” Fascinating definition of the term “success…”

Flash forward to post-election, and CNN have changed their tune. Now, they publish “exclusive reports” of “The Wuhan files,” outlining China’s mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak. It seems that mentioning the geographic source of the virus — Wuhan, China — and criticizing China’s responsibility for COVID-19 is no longer evidence of bigotry. What changed?

The report shows that China repeatedly underreported the spread of COVID-19, with true numbers being more than double on multiple occasions. The report also details ineffective testing kits, lack of protective equipment for health officials, and an undisclosed flu outbreak in December 2019.

We may never know how many people actually caught — or died from — COVID-19 in China. But we do know that China will never accept responsibility, which is hardly surprising given that they are an evil dictatorship with a history of mass-murder, forced abortion, and the forced internment of Uighur Muslims. This isn’t the first time that “China lied, people died.” 

But we must also not forget that our legacy media lied too. If Biden becomes President, and China becomes the sole focus of blame, remember that it’s not about the truth for the Left. It’s about power.

Ian Haworth is host of The Ian Haworth Show and The Truth in 60 Seconds. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.