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Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., responded on Twitter, saying she’s \"embarrassed\" to be McCarthy’s colleague after his \"disgusting\" coronavirus reference.

\"I am shocked and dismayed that the GOP Leader in the House of Representatives has referred to the coronavirus as the ‘Chinese coronavirus’,\" Meng wrote in a statement.

\"PHOTO:
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
PHOTO: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy holds his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill, March 5, 2020, in Washington, DC.
>

She added, \"This labeling of the illness is embarrassing, disrespectful, offensive, and downright disgusting. It is shameful. The minority leader must immediately apologize.”

I’m embarrassed to be his colleague. I’m so disgusted. We await his apology to the nation, the Chinese-American and #AAPI community and to his own constituents. https://t.co/eKYbffqOww

— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) March 10, 2020

California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris also slammed McCarthy’s remarks, tweeting: \"Calling it the 'Chinese coronavirus' isn't just racist, it's dangerous and incites discrimination against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants.”

She added, \"@GOPLeader, delete this tweet -- now. It's beneath the office of a member of Congress, let alone a party leader.”

During a Tuesday hearing on novel coronavirus -- CDC director Robert Redfield says the virus is no longer bounded by China therefore it would be inappropriate to call it \"Chinese coronavirus.”

\"PHOTO:
Andrew Harnik/AP
PHOTO: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget on Capitol Hill, March 10, 2020, in Washington.
>

While it originated in Wuhan, China, Redfield says, “99 percent of the cases that occurred last night, occurred outside of China.\"

\"This isn’t China. Right now the epicenter, the new China, is Europe,” he said.

Twitter criticism of the top GOP lawmaker's comments continued on Tuesday:

Chinese people have already been portrayed as bat soup eating savages in countless memes. Now Republican lawmakers are making a concerted effort to label the coronavirus with an ethnicity and geographic origin, which the WHO specifically warned against when it named it Covid-19.

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 10, 2020

Well, this was inevitable, I guess. In an effort to whip up even more xenophobia/sinophobia, conservatives are trying to rebrand COVID-19 as \"Chinese coronavirus”. https://t.co/SPzw9yu7mk

— Reappropriate (@reappropriate) March 10, 2020

TRUMP, coronavirus briefing — 6:34pm today:
\"We’re going to be working with companies..... It’s not their fault, it’s not our country’s fault.\"

KEVIN McCARTHY, GOP Leader — 6:55 pm today:
\"Everything you need to know about the Chinese coronavirus....\"

The blame shifting begins. https://t.co/8qDzuTPeiK

— Douglas M. Griffin (@DouglasMGriffin) March 10, 2020

McCarthy is not the only lawmaker over the past week to tie the virus to the region where the strain originated. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., also came under fire after calling it the \"Wuhan Virus,\" as he announced his intent to self-isolate.

\"I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus,\" Gosar tweeted on Saturday. \"My office will be closed for the week.\"

Gosar then defended himself, questioning when it became racist to call it \"Wuhan Virus.\"

\"Just astoundingly ignorant to have all major media refer to it as #WuhanVirus for months but somehow, today, you’ve decided that’s #racist,\" he wrote.

As of Tuesday afternoon, McCarthy had not removed the tweet or responded to the criticism.

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