George Takei leads campaign to get Trump reported on Twitter for ‘stoking racism’ over coronavirus

Actor criticises US president for referring to ‘Chinese virus’

George Takei is leading a campaign to get Donald Trump reported on Twitter for “stoking racism” over the coronavirus.

The actor asked others on the platform to flag a tweet by the US president in which he referred to the “Chinese virus”.

“Do me a favour and report this tweet. Trump is stoking racism,” Takei wrote.

“@jack [Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey] may not do anything, but people should let @Twitter know it’s not acceptable.”

Trump’s tweet reads: "The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”

The president’s message has been widely criticised for his used of the phrase “Chinese virus”.

Doctor Eugene Gu wrote in response: ”There it is. I’ve been deathly afraid of this exact moment where Trump turns to racism and xenophobia and calls Covid-19 the ‘Chinese Virus.’

“We are in deep trouble as a nation now that President of the United States makes the conscious decision to go down this dark path of hate.”

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Trump’s tweet smears China, and that Beijing strongly opposes the president’s usage of the words.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters during a daily briefing that the US should first take care of its own matters.

Additional reporting by agencies