After alleging that former President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “fanned the flames” of “hate, fear, and xenophobia” against Asian Americans, Joe Biden has announced that he will require travelers from China to show a negative coronavirus test to enter the United States.
Beginning on January 5, passengers arriving at U.S. airports “within two days of departure from airports in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau” will be required to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
Many scientists believe the coronavirus originated in China. Therefore the Trump administration instituted travel restrictions on passengers entering from there in January 2020.
In May of that year, 2020, President Joe Biden referred to many of these limitations as “denials, delays, and distractions, many of which were nakedly xenophobic.”
Biden claimed that “hate, fear, and xenophobia that he always fuels… that has always been in our culture” had been released by the epidemic.
A new wave of subtle and overt acts of racism directed towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have emerged since Trump took office.
Two months later, Biden doubled back, saying that Trump is a racist on account of more than simply his coronavirus policies.
There have always been racists; some have even run for president. As far as he was aware, “he’s the first one that has,” he said.