Lana Condor—like many Americans—woke up to a disheartening series of tweets by President Donald Trump, repeatedly referring to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) as the “Chinese virus.” In one of last night’s tweets, Trump said he “always treated the Chinese virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning.” He went on to claim he saved “many lives” through his “early decision to close the ‘borders’ from China—against the wishes of almost all.”
In a Notes app post published to her Twitter account, Condor—who was born in Vietnam before being adopted by American parents—seemingly responded to the president’s tweets, though she didn’t refer to him by name.
“Be better,” the To All the Boys actor wrote. “To wake up to your chaos is truly a nightmare. Please. Be better. To my followers—be safe. I love you.” Attached to the tweet was a longer message that suggests what leaders should do instead of inciting fear and spreading hateful rhetoric.
“You have no idea the ramifications your racist words & actions have on the Asian American community. You simply cannot even fathom the danger you are putting our community in,” Condor wrote in the note. “How dare you. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“You call yourself a leader?” she continued. “You know what leaders do? They LEAD by setting good examples and ACTION. Something we’ve yet to see you do.”
She finished her message by asking for people in power to step up. “Please. Be better. So we aren’t afraid to leave our house in fear someone will verbally or physically abuse us because of your xenophobia,” she wrote.
She is not the only person in the Asian-American community speaking up. Many on Twitter are expressing their hurt over people’s racist language about the COVID-19 crisis.
During a press conference today, March 18, a reporter asked why Trump keeps referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.” Here is his response:
As Lana Condor so eloquently puts it: be better.
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