[jonnycomputer]

Or maybe some people thought that serious accusations like this require evidence and looked askance upon Trump's xenophobic blame-shifting and hate-mongering. "the China virus" he likes to say.

And we see the consequences with old Asian ladies being punched in streets by young white thugs.

I've personally always held it as a possibility. But no way I'll defend the Trump administration on this.

[joemazerino]

> And we see the consequences with old Asian ladies being punched in streets by young white thugs.

Speaking of hate-mongering..are we seeing the same data on anti-Asian attacks?

[jonnycomputer]

If you have data, cough it up joe.

[jonnycomputer]

Let me see if I can say restate this more clearly.

I have always accepted the possibility that the virus escaped from a lab in China. However, like many other Americans, I refused to be drawn into public speculation about it by people, like Donald Trump and Stephen Miller, with a political and ideological interest in stoking xenophobia. In particular, I saw their attempt to blame China--before definitive evidence was acquired--as an attempt to shift blame away for the Trump administration's dismal response to the virus to external actors.

And yes, we have seen a rise in anti-Asian hate crime and sinophobia in America, largely as a result of this kind of rhetoric.