Coronavirus National Emergency: Donald Trump's 'Opening Up' America Comments Sparked Fierce Debate Online

A recent comment from President Donald Trump has people talking on social media. On Monday, Trump [...]

By Christian Long

A recent comment from President Donald Trump has people talking on social media. On Monday, Trump said that he's hoping he'll be able to reassess the current instructions, which suggests people should stay home to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

"Our country was not built to be shut down. America will soon be open for business," the president said. "We're not going to let the cure be worse than the disease. We are going to save American workers and our great American companies." He went on to say that at "the end of the 15-day period, we'll make a decision as to which way we want to go."

"And essentially, we're referring to the timing of the opening, essentially, the opening of our country. Because we have it pretty well shut-down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy," he added, referring to coronavirus itself.

Given the uncertainties about coronavirus itself, not to mention the amount of criticism the Trump administration has been getting as a result of its handling of the global pandemic, there were a number of people on social media who logged on to let their thoughts on the matter be known.

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Trump also addressed the Asian American community in a tweet on Monday, which came after several instances where he incorrectly referred to coronavirus as a "Chinese virus."

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"It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world," he tweeted, adding that coronavirus was "NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it."

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On Friday, the president attempted to defend his use of the term due to its accuracy.

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"'Cause it comes from China. It's not racist at all, no. It comes from China, that's why. I want to be accurate," he said at the time.

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"You have no idea the ramifications your racist words & actions have on the Asian American community," said actress Lana Condor in a message to Trump condemning his use of the term last week. "You simply cannot even fathom the danger you are putting our community in. How dare you.

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On March 13, when Trump officially declared a national emergency in response to coronavirus, he brought along a number of CEOs, which also drew criticism online.

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