SACRAMENTO – Organizers of the campaign to recall Gavin Newsom have repeatedly called the coronavirus a ‘Chinese’ virus over the past year, confirming the rhetoric that has fueled racist attitudes and violence among Asian American leaders.
The recall campaign on its website referred to the virus as the “Communist Chinese Party (CCP) virus”, and some political workers working on the effort used similar language.
The language appears under a list of reasons to remind Newsom, along with an apparent reference to immigrant businesses that received stimulus money during the pandemic.
“Funding of illegal foreign enterprises in the amount of $ 50 million because CA has received federal funding for the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) Virus [Covid-19/Corona], ”Said the website.
Memorial organizers said Sunday night they plan to remove the reference. Randy Economy, a spokesman for the recall committee, said the campaign apologized if anyone was offended.
“Our campaign is not about dividing Californians, it’s about uniting California by removing the dividing governor,” Economy said. “The people will not tolerate nasty divisive fabricated personal attacks by Governor Newsom.”
Asian American leaders say the rise of violence and harassment targeting their community in the Bay Area and across the country has been exacerbated by references by former President Donald Trump and others to COVID-19 as the “China virus”.
“It is the racist rhetoric that is directly responsible for the rise in anti-Asian harassment, verbal harassment and physical attacks,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, an advocacy group. “It hurts deeply, and especially in the aftermath of the killings in Atlanta, where six of the eight victims were Asian women.”
Stop AAPI Hate has documented nearly 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans, including beatings and murders, since the pandemic began.
Courtni Pugh, political director of Newsom’s campaign to oppose the recall, said the “groups and racist attacks by the AAPI recall group endanger Californians.”
Orrin Heatlie, the retired sergeant of the sheriff in Yolo County who started the recall, said he understands why the referral caused concern.
“In light of the attacks and that violence, we are just as concerned as they are,” Heatlie said of Asian Americans.
The reference to China is not the only one that has appeared on the website of the recall campaign. Recently in June, the same page on reasons to recall Newsom said that California had “the highest gas tax in our country BEFORE the Chinese Corona virus.” According to an archived version of the website, the reference was later scrapped.
Stephen Frank, a Conservative consultant and blogger who was a media relations coordinator for the recall, said the virus was in ‘ tweets. Last summer, Frank posted an article about the increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans in which he wrote: ‘Yes, it is wrong to bully or abuse someone. But what is being done is small potatoes, a little here, a little there. ‘
Frank said he stands by his comments. ‘The reality is that the coronavirus came from China, but from Wuhan. It’s just accurate, ”he said.
Frank is no longer listed on the recall campaign website, and Economy said the recall effort is now unrelated to him.
Robin Emerson McCrea, the chief financial officer of the recall, also made references to the “Chinese flu” and “Chinese virus” in Facebook posts. Economy said “personal comments people make on Facebook posts are not a direct reflection” of the campaign’s attitude.
Tom Del Beccaro, former chairman of the California Republican Party, called the coronavirus the “CCP virus,” an apparent reference to the Chinese Community Party, in opinion pieces published last year on the conservative Epoch Times website. Del Beccaro is chairman of two political committees, Rescue California and California Revival, which registered the recall, although he is no longer part of the official campaign.
According to Del Beccaro, he refers to the lack of transparency of the Chinese government during the first COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan at the end of 2019, which according to critics contributed to the spread of the disease around the world.
“My reference was to a particular government, not a race or other people,” Del Beccaro said in a text message. “Therefore, it is avoided that something is attributed to a race or other category of people.”
Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @dustingardiner