Ted Cruz praises Bill Maher for ‘rant’ about coronavirus originating in China
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reached across the aisle Saturday when he praised comedian Bill Maher for his monologue panning liberals over their concerns about the term «Chinese virus.»
«Important @billmaher rant on the culpability of the Chinese Communist govt for the Wuhan pandemic,» Cruz tweeted. «And on the need to close wet markets NOW. Strong language, but he’s one of very few in Hollywood willing to call out the CCP [Chinese Communist Party].»
Maher tends to call out his fellow liberals on political correctness and Friday’s episode of «Real Time» was no different.
As the coronavirus outbreak continued spreading across the U.S., President Trump and others sparked a national debate by referring to the disease as the «Chinese coronavirus» or the «Wuhan virus» because it began infecting people in Wuhan, China. But critics of the labels called such terms «racist» and «xenophobic,» insisting they would incite hate crimes against Asian-Americans.
BILL MAHER BLASTS ‘PC’ UPROAR OVER ‘CHINESE VIRUS’ LABEL: ‘WE SHOULD BLAME CHINA’
Maher mocked the complainers, listing several other illnesses that are named after their locations of origin — such as the West Nile virus, Spanish flu and MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
«You can’t yell at someone for breaking a rule you just made up,» he said, adding: «So why should China get a pass?»
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Maher received praise from another unlikely source in the Trump campaign. Brad Parscale, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, tweeted: «Never thought I would say it. But I agree with Bill Maher. Enough is enough.»
He added the hashtag «#shutdownthewetmarkets,» referring to the theory that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese wet market.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
