Neera Tanden peddles Chinese propaganda about coronavirus

In an attack on President Trump late Wednesday night, Tanden condemned Trump’s China travel ban while simultaneously blaming him for the spread of the deadly pandemic in the United States.

Tanden called the ban a “flop,” stating that it still “allowed thousands in from China” and that it “didn’t remotely stop the virus because it came from Europe,” regurgitating lies promoted by Chinese state propaganda about the real origins of the novel coronavirus.

April 9, 2020

Tanden made her marks in relation to a New York Times article, which argues that “the virus came to the New York area mainly from Europe, not Asia.” According to the piece, genetic analysis showed that the disease arrived in New York weeks before the CDC confirmed its first case in the state.

In late January, President Trump placed a ban on flights to and from regions of China affected by the COVID-19 virus to limit its spread in the United States. He did so against the recommendations of the World Health Organization—an action that even some of his critics admit may have saved lives and prevent the spread of the disease, which has ravaged Italy, Spain, and many other parts of the world.

The ban may not have stopped European travellers with the illness from arriving in the United States, but it was an early action that many other nations soon followed as the situation spiralled out of control in China.

One might ask from where the virus spread to Europe in the first place, if not from China.