Did you really say Trump wanted ‘unity’?

KIM PIL-GYU
The author is a Washington correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo.

“Trump’s first message after becoming a presidential candidate will be ‘unity,’” said a Washington insider I met last month. He was involved in work related to Congress and told me about the remarks made at the American Opportunity Alliance event, an unofficial meeting of major Republican donors recently held in Florida. The strategy of the “unity” message was explained by Susie Wiles, a senior adviser of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. She also said that the vice-presidential candidates would not include MAGA figures, loyal supporters of Trump.

After a related report by the JoongAng Ilbo, Trump won a landslide victory on “Super Tuesday” and actually said “we want unity” in the speech. It was inevitable to absorb other Republican supporters and donors.

However, during his speech, Trump suddenly discussed the “China virus.” He criticized China’s incompetence for the leak of the Covid-19 virus from the Wuhan lab, causing material damage and casualties worldwide. He also said that it is more accurate to call it the “China virus,” not the Covid-19 virus.

Of course, what China is hiding should be revealed. However, I am suspicious of Trump’s intention in bringing up the “China virus” while discussing America’s unity. He also recalled the unpleasant memories four years ago.

At the time, President Trump frequently mentioned the “China virus” and the “kung fu virus,” emphasizing that he was not responsible for the tremendous damage that the United States suffered from Covid-19. He provoked anger in some Americans unable to distinguish between China and Korea.

Violence against Koreans continued in large cities such as New York and San Francisco. Even in Washington, which was supposed to be better, I often got cursed at on the street and felt reluctant to visit stores and restaurants. I stayed behind a column on the subway platform out of fear that someone might push me.

In fact, UC San Francisco analyzed 1.3 million tweets after Trump’s “China virus” remark in March 2020 and found that it created “anti-Asian” sentiment.

Creating an external enemy for internal unity is a classic tactic, but it always involves scapegoats.

There are voices in Korea hoping for Trump’s return for various reasons. However, if Trump’s unity is based on his trademark of “dividing sides,” the unpleasant sentiment four years ago is also likely to return.