As the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, so does anti-Asian racism and conspiracy theories. Right-wing broadcaster Bill Mitchell is touting just that to his more than 500,000 Twitter followers.
“I read that Asian lungs have more receptors and are therefore more susceptible to this kind of virus. Is this true or urban myth?” the Trump superfan tweeted on Saturday.
The coronavirus (COVID-19), which originated in Wuhan, China, has so far claimed nearly 3,000 lives and infected more than 83,000 others across the globe. There has been a noticeable uptick in anti-Asian racism. Mitchell’s tweet has more than 2,000 comments, with only a few hundred retweets–a clear ratio.
“Gee, I’m going to go with urban myth used to spread racism. The best time to delete this tweet would be right after you made it. The second best time is now,” Twitter user @MadBastard_v2 wrote in response.
It’s unclear where Mitchell read his coronavirus statistics, but he’s a known believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory, prompting some to take a guess. “Did you read it in Biology 101 at Q University?” Twitter user @tim_username asked.
Others are using Mitchell’s own words against him.
“I read that Bill Mitchell is a 3rd rate grifter who is so thirsty for attention that he’s willing to spread dangerous bigoted disinformation during a pandemic,” Twitter user @SRMillar3 wrote.
Mitchell has been incessantly tweeting about the coronavirus, but with this tweet, he seems to have found a winner for his most controversial take on it yet.
READ MORE:
- Amanda Holden’s bad coronavirus advice sheds light on the struggle of being immunocompromised
- Why the coronavirus bioweapon theory persists
- Republican senator spreads false conspiracy about coronavirus
