Photographer captures Trump notes with ‘corona’ crossed out in favor of ‘Chinese virus’

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Washington Post photographer Jabin Botsford shot a photo of Donald Trump’s notes during March 19, 2020’s coronavirus task force meeting that showed the word “Corona (sic)” crossed out with bold black marker and the word “Chinese.”

Close up of President @realDonaldTrump notes is seen where he crossed out "Corona" and replaced it with "Chinese" Virus as he speaks with his coronavirus task force today at the White House. #trump #trumpnotes pic.twitter.com/kVw9yrPPeJ

— Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) March 19, 2020

The photo shows Trump’s notes, printed in large type and placed in plastic sheet protectors in a three ring binder.

The paper refers to the “Corona Virus” (the term is actually a single word — “coronavirus” — and generally not capitalized).

Trump appears to have crossed out the word “Corona” and replaced it with the word “Chinese” in his familiar handwriting on top of the sheet protector.

Trump has been repeatedly been criticized for referring to coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” despite WHO guidelines that recommend against naming pathogens using geographic references to avoid associating stigma against a particular region or group of people.

The apparent edit seems to suggest that the White House is attempting to veer Trump away from using that term (albeit without the correct knowledge of capitalization) but he is purposefully adding it back into his remarks.

However, Trump has largely ignored this suggestion and continues to use what many view as a racist, xenophobic and insensitive term.