Sen. Joni Ernst was asked about the controversy that exists when people refer to the Coronavirus as the Chinese Virus.
Sen. Charles Grassley tweeted earlier in the day:
“I don’t understand why China gets upset because we refer to the virus that originated there the ‘Chinese Virus’ Spain never got upset when we referred to the Spanish Flu in 1918 & 1919.”
Ernst, for her part, said she didn’t want to enter into that conversation.
“I don’t want to call it one thing or another — it’s the Coronavirus,” she said. “We’re focused on COVID-19, so we can just call it that.”
She said focusing on what to call it isn’t where the focus should be.
“We need to focus on the very human element of this virus and the fact that it is affecting so many Iowans and Iowa communities and small businesses right now,” she said. “Others may call it what they want to call it.”
