No Party Split: Vast Majority of Americans Believe the COVID-19 Pandemic Is China’s Fault
Posted at 11:30 am on April 9, 2020 by Brandon Morse
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, medical personnel wearing protective suits work in the department of infectious diseases at Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. Hong Kong’s leader announced Tuesday that all rail links to mainland China will be cut starting Friday as fears grow about the spread of a new virus. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)
Normally, opinions on who is to blame for any given subject are split down party lines, but not when it comes to who is at fault for the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all agree: It’s China’s fault.
As reported by the Epoch Times, a Harris Poll that was released on Wednesday showed that a whopping 77 percent of Americans are ready to point the finger at China for the situation the globe currently finds itself in, regardless of party:
A survey from Harris Poll on Wednesday shows that 77 percent of Americans nationally blame the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the spread of the virus.
The belief was echoed across the political spectrum (pdf), with 67 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of independents, and 90 percent of Republicans attributing the CCP virus to the Chinese regime.What’s more, it would appear that an overwhelming majority believe it’s time to pull our industry from China and get tougher on trade:
Another 71 percent said Americans companies should pull back from manufacturing their products in China, 69 percent said they believe President Donald Trump should persist in his tough trade stance against the regime, and 54 percent said the CCP needs to pay reparations to other countries due to the pandemic.Meanwhile, China has attempted to place the blame for the virus on the United States, specifically, its military. Chinese official Lijian Zhao floated the conspiracy theory that the virus was brought to Wuhan by the U.S. Army. He even floated this suggestion on Twitter and in English for good measure.
This is an interesting development, as the mainstream media and quite a few Democrats have been attempting to put the blame for the outbreak squarely on President Donald Trump while touting China’s narrative of having everything in control, and even being helpful to stem the tide of the virus.
It would appear the American populace isn’t buying it.
This is likely because the virus has hit everyone personally. Many people are losing their livelihoods, if not watching family members lose their lives. With Trump and the virus task force giving daily updates and walking the American people through the plans, it feels more like Trump and his team are trying to fix the problem, removing any ideas that they’re the ones who are at fault for it.
If this view holds, it’s likely that punishing China for the virus will become a large part of any 2020 politician’s platform, and it should.
