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Course Concept and the Corona Virus Pandemic
Rhetoric
President Trump used the term “Chinese virus” to refer to the coronavirus (Leigh). The term suggests that the coronavirus originated from China. It also suggests that the Chinese are to blame for the spread of the virus.
Critical Perspective
Both Democrats and Republicans have held strong positions regarding the coronavirus when it comes to its origin. Republicans think that China is to blame for coronavirus epidemic. On the other hand, Democrats think that Republicans are using China as a scapegoat for their failure to effectively contain the COVID-19 pandemic (Leigh). The stigmatization of Asian Americans has prevented the thorough examination of this pandemic in terms of its origin, transmission and containment.
McLuhan’s Concepts of the Medium Is the Message and the Global Village
President Trump has been using specific media outlets to relay his messages pertaining to the coronavirus, apart from his daily briefings. For example, he turned to Fox News to explain what he meant when he referred to coronavirus as “Chinese virus” (Leigh). It is common knowledge that Fox News is affiliated to the Republican Party. As such, the use of Fox News suggests that the message being conveyed by this media outlet is the position of the Republican Party.
Secrecy and Revelation
There were rumors that the coronavirus originated in U.S. military lab (Leigh). President Trump used the term “China virus” when responding to the message that the America military could have manufactured coronavirus. It is now clear that it is hardly impossible that the virus was manufactured in a laboratory.
Fake News
President Trump used to term “China virus” was reacting to fake news regarding the origin and spread of coronavirus. Initially, there were rumors that Asian Americans were responsible for spreading the coronavirus in the United States. The rumors were baseless since there was nothing factual about them.
Social Media
President Trump is known to be an avid user of social media. He constantly tweets on various emerging issues, sometimes several times a day. For example, President Trump made a tweet emphasizing his message about Asian Americans not being responsible for the spread of the coronavirus (Leigh). People who support Trump’s position regarding the origin of coronavirus retweets his messages to demonstrate their solidarity and ensure that their party position reaches as many people as possible.
Works Cited
Leigh, Karen. “Trump says he’ll stop using the term ‘Chinese virus.” Bloomberg, 25 March. 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-25/trump-says-he-ll-stop-using-chinese-virus-easing-blame-game. Accessed on April 20, 2020.