Gov. Mike DeWine defended a tweet sent by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted on Friday that offended many in the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community.
Lt. Gov. Husted shared an article about former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield telling CNN he believes the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, despite having no evidence.
In the tweet from his personal, verified account, Husted wrote, "So it appears it was the Wuhan Virus after all?"
DeWine responded by saying Husted's tweet was about the Chinese government, not its people.
“There is no prejudice there at all. He was not saying that in that sense. Again, I think we need to make distinction of the government and the people of China," DeWine said on Monday. "The government of China is one thing. We love the people, but we can still be critical of the government of China without being prejudice,” said DeWine.
The Asian community has been the target of a startling rise in violence and harassment throughout the pandemic.
Husted is expected to address his statement during Thursday's press conference.
Husted's office issued a statement Saturday which reads:
"The Lt. Governor was highlighting an article in which the former CDC director questioned the Chinese government’s account of its origin of COVID-19 and if it had actually escaped from a Wuhan lab. The Chinese government has not been cooperative as journalists and the Trump and Biden administrations have sought more facts. Recently, an international group of scientists and researchers issued an open letter calling for an independent investigation, separate from the WHO effort, which they say has lacked the independence, expertise, and access needed to adequately investigate the source of the pandemic, including the potential for a lab accident. “Efforts to date do not constitute a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation,” the letter, published by The Wall Street Journal, said. This virus has killed 2.7 million people worldwide, and the Lt. Governor believes the public deserves the facts and an independent investigation."
When asked by 10TV about the decision by Husted to use the phrase "Wuhan Virus" instead of avoiding the phrase, which is not the official name for COVID-19 according to WHO and can lead to stigmatization, a spokesperson for his office replied:
"It has nothing to do with ethnicity, it has to do with geography. Just as others refer to the Midwest variant, the UK variant, the South African variant, the Brazilian variant, or throughout history, the Spanish flu, German measles, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus are all connected to a location have nothing to do with one’s ethnicity."