Moulton Walks Back Condemnation Of China's Coronavirus Response

SALEM, MA — Rep. Seth Moulton has walked back his support of a resolution that condemns the Chinese government for how it handled the new coronavirus outbreak. In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Moulton said the resolution "has caused division" and was overshadowed by anti-Asian racism throughout the country.

Moulton originally led the effort on the resolution alongside Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN). Prior to withdrawing support, he was the only Democrat among the 40 supporters.

"The American people should hold our leaders accountable, and their representatives in Congress should hold China accountable for its part in this pandemic," Moulton originally said in a statement Tuesday.

In his latest statement, Moulton said he originally signed on to the resolution because of how the Chinese government downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic and spread misinformation; however, the intent has been "overshadowed by President Trump's divisive, xenophobic attempts to deflect from his administration’s abysmal response to this virus."

"As someone who has spoken in stark terms about racism in America and the dangerousness of Trump, the way the resolution has been used is unacceptable to me," he said.

Moulton also received heavy pushback from the public and within his party.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, said she asked Moulton not to introduce the resolution.

On Twitter, Chu thanked Moulton for withdrawing his support.

Thank you @sethmoulton for taking the time to talk to me about this resolution and the Asian Americans who it impacted. I look forward to continuing our work together. https://t.co/bN3bLPQlah
— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/RepJudyChu... 26, 2020

While there are no concrete numbers, many Asian-American residents, lawmakers and nonprofit leaders have reported an increase in anti-Asian incidents since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action launched the Stop AAPI Hate website so people could directly report incidents on March 18. They told NBC Asia America that the site received more than 650 reports by Thursday.