NBC’s Ken Dilanian has been facing widespread criticism after he wrote an article claiming that China has been handling the spread of the coronavirus better than the United States, as reported by Fox News.
The article is titled “As U.S. struggles to stem coronavirus, China asserts itself as a global leader.” In the article, Dilanian says that “with Italy in dire need of medical equipment, an economic superpower stepped in to help. No, not the United States. It was China.”
Dilanian also falsely claims that President Trump sought to cut funding for the World Health Organization as further “proof” of China’s superiority, also citing alleged “squabbles” between President Trump and several governors, even though Democratic governors such as Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) and Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) have offered praise for President Trump’s response.
In addition to the backlash Dilanian subsequently faced on social media, NBC aired a segment similarly praising China, with Keir Simmons saying that “China…may have helped western Europe and America by delaying the arrival of the coronavirus here. But now they are worrying that they may get infected by the coronavirus from the rest of the world.”
In fact, it has been well-documented that the Chinese government, run by the Chinese Communist Party, engaged in multiple cover-ups as the initial virus outbreak began, and has continued to spread propaganda about the origins of the disease. Doctors who attempted to warn the public about the severity of the disease were silenced, and China has been credibly accused of doctoring their own numbers to hide the true totals of infected individuals and those who have died of the disease.