Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) dealt with strong reaction on social media after he protected fellow Republican politicians– led by President Donald Trump– who demand calling the coronavirus by the racist term the “Chinese Virus.”

Cornyn likewise drew refuse for incorrectly connecting China to other public health crises.

The legislator informed a press reporter on Wednesday that China was to blame for the coronavirus “because the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that, these viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that’s why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the swine flu and now the coronavirus.”

“So I think they have a fundamental problem, and I don’t object to geographically identifying where it’s coming from,” he added.

When the press reporter informed Cornyn that lots of Asian Americans feel the term “Chinese Virus” is racist, he responded: “Oh, I disagree. We’re not talking about Asians, we’re talking about China where these viruses emanate from and which have created this pandemic.”

Twitter users quickly rebuked the senator, fact-checking his claims about MERS (which was first reported in Saudi Arabia) and the H1N1 “swine flu” (which was first discovered in the U.S.).

“Just so we’re all clear: In the middle of a global pandemic, a sitting senator is scapegoating an entire country and peddling racist lies that could very well lead to hate crimes,” tweeted former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

Take a look at Cornyn’s remarks in the video above and the reactions here:

Hey @JohnCornyn “This is Chinese culture and every disease comes from there.” is factually false and even worse is a clear rallying require morons to pursue individuals who look Asian. There are Asian kids out here simply attempting to live you negligent idiot. https://t.co/0PBGC9XKLJ

— Ronny Chieng (@ronnychieng) March 18,2020

My partner is from Taiwan, so my kids are half- Chinese. Their schoolmates are currently blaming them for the infection & asking if they consume bats due to the fact that of racist assholes like @JohnCornyn & @realDonaldTrump. If it was true, my 9 year old boy even came home & asked me. It’s heart-breaking.

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) March 18,2020

John Cornyn requires to lose his Senate seat this Fall. He’s an accomplice in pressing Trump’s racist sideshow to sidetrack us from how terribly the president has actually managed this crisis. He’s likewise gushing a lot of flat-out lies here about the origins of various infections. https://t.co/JbrY8FySfO

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) March 19,2020

So we’re all clear: In the middle of a global pandemic, a sitting senator is scapegoating a whole nation and marketing racist lies that might extremely well lead to dislike criminal activities.

Unseat John Cornyn in November. https://t.co/pw7A1ytQAX

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 18,2020

@JohnCornyn does not care adequate about U.S.A. deaths from COVID-19 to trouble inspecting truths prior to ranting.

MERS (Middle East Breathing Syndrome) is Saudi.

Swine influenza is name of post-09 epidemic of A/H1N1. Very same infection previously from U.S.A., Russia, Burma, India and so on triggered upsurges. https://t.co/GEiaoqdM2r

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 18,2020

So I’m presuming moving forward @JohnCornyn would have no concern with describing every #MassShooting as a “White Mass Shooting” considering that essentially every mass shooting is committed by a white person … need to be something about their “culture” … https://t.co/a0UrY3fvwl

— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) March 18,2020

This is so horrible, unsafe, negligent and oblivious.
Think Of being a Chinese American now.

— Peter Zizzo (@pzizzo) March 18,2020

Whaaaaat … is occurring … https://t.co/ZhCgrUTsxM

— Happiness Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 18,2020

John Cornyn is a racist piece of shit and this sort of scapegoating will lead to dislike criminal activities https://t.co/JVHss2jMv4

— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) March 18,2020

1) Swine Influenza “was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009.” – CDC https://t.co/ePLKPc77T2 https://t.co/dm4FB1Axth

— tanvi (@Tanvim) March 18,2020

Neither swine influenza nor MERS– which actually means “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome”– come fromChina https://t.co/is6YhyO5yf

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) March 18,2020

Swine Influenza didn’t even come fromChina It began here in the United States, where we consume pigs. https://t.co/LKoItXxHKo

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 18,2020

John Cornyn’s remarks are revolting, unsafe, and racist. Due to the fact that of Trump and the Republican politician Celebration’s bigotry, asian Americans have actually currently been the victims of hate criminal activities. We will vote Cornyn out in November.

Assist us here: https://t.co/JscRvDLjvQ https://t.co/IKFKXLjIpG

— Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats) March 19,2020

The Spanish Influenza began in the United States.

MERS and Swine Influenza didn’t start in China.

Cornyn’s a know nothing and a racist. https://t.co/15Lp0ClGRy

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 19,2020

There’s a word for this: xenophobia.

Texas neighborhoods are worthy of much better than racist pet dog whistles, and Americans are trying to find management and options. It’s time to combine, not divide on racist lines and point fingers. Please stop making things even worse and return to work. https://t.co/zIoRae5euw

— MJ Hegar (@mjhegar) March 18,2020

1/ This is certainly racist, however it’s likewise an opportunistic trick to alter the subject far from Trump’s huge supervisory failures on corona. The Trump GOP has actually currently marked down the expenses of racist signaling; this things won’ t lose them any citizens they have not currently lost. https://t.co/EwNdPzvveD

— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) March 19,2020

Can we return to when being racist in public wasn’t cool? https://t.co/H1wLhKPsW6

— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) March 18,2020

Calling all HuffPost superfans!

Register For membership to end up being an establishing member and aid shape HuffPost’s next chapter

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