Covid-19: Donald Trump claims China deliberately did not stop ‘the plague’
The US president also claimed that China was spreading disinformation to help Joe Biden, his Democratic rival, win the November elections.
United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at China once again for the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of trying to “deflect the pain and carnage that their country spread throughout the world”. He also took a shot at his Democratic rival in the upcoming presidential elections, Joe Biden.
“Spokesman speaks stupidly on behalf of China, trying desperately to deflect the pain and carnage that their country spread throughout the world,” Trump tweeted. “Its disinformation and propaganda attack on the United States and Europe is a disgrace. It all comes from the top. They could have easily stopped the plague, but they didn’t!”
Trump also claimed that China is on a disinformation campaign because they want “Sleepy Joe Biden” win the presidential race in November. This, he said, will enable China to once again “rip-off” the United States, like they had done before he became the president.
The Covid-19 outbreak was first detected in central China’s Wuhan city late last year. Earlier this month, Trump had threatened China with new tariffs claiming that he had seen evidence linking a Wuhan lab to the Covid-19 infection. However, WHO dismissed these claims.
However, faced with mounting international pressure, China on May 18 agreed to support a “comprehensive review” of the coronavirus outbreak. The United States administration has already initiated an investigation into the outbreak.
Trump has also time and again attacked the World Health Organization for its role in combatting the pandemic. The latest of these attacks was on May 18 when he accused the world body of being a “puppet” of China. The next day, he said the United States administration will permanently freeze funding to the global body if “substantive improvements” were not made in the next 30 days.
The coronavirus has infected nearly 50 lakh people globally, and killed over 3.28 lakh as of Thursday morning, according to the Johns Hopkins University.