CNN's Jim Acosta, Chris Cuomo criticized President Trump for tying coronavirus to China — but video mash-up highlights their hypocrisy

Following President Donald Trump's address to the nation Wednesday, CNN's Jim Acosta, not surprisingly, found something in it to criticize, pointing out that Trump calling the coronavirus a "foreign virus" would "come across to a lot of Americans as smacking of xenophobia."

"That, I think, was interesting because, as I was talking to sources earlier this evening, one of the points that the president wanted to make tonight — wanted to get across to Americans — is that this virus did not start here, but that they're dealing with it," Acosta told CNN's Chris Cuomo. "Now, why the president would go as far to describe it as a 'foreign virus,' that is something we'll also be asking questions about."

Hypocrisy

Well, on the heels of Acosta's sanctimonious statement, MRC-TV put together a gut punch of a video mash-up showing his fellow CNN anchors and talking heads on other media outlets calling coronavirus the "Wuhan virus" and the "Chinese coronavirus" numerous times.

It starts with a grinning Cuomo with a gushing glint in his eye noting how "you're starting to hear the Republicans, especially Trump Co., calling it the Wuhan or the Chinese coronavirus. They're looking for someone to blame."

Image source: Twitter video screenshot

With that, let's roll tape, shall we?

All told, the clip showed CNN on-air personalities tying the coronavirus to China or Wuhan at least 20 times.

One of the funnier segments featured a CNN panelist mocking Trump's European travel ban to prevent "the outside invasion of the disease" and then Cuomo's buddy Don Lemon responding with "the Chinese coronavirus, that they've been calling it" — as if it's a phrase he's never heard before.

But as the very next mash-up segment shows, Lemon did hear it before — because he himself said those exact words following the first coronavirus death in the U.S.

Even the very woke, very international Christiane Amanpour uttered the words "Wuhan coronavirus."

How did others react to the video mash-up?

As you might expect, other Twitter users picked up on the hypocrisy straight away:

• "The Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus is from Wuhan China.... in China... where Wuhan is.... where the Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus started."
• "A network of hypocrites!"
• "Sad how they keep their viewers/supporters in a constant state of confusion & full of HATE and have done so for years & years..."
• "SHUT THEM DOWN!!!"

And one added a rather entertaining discovery:

An advanced search for the tweet on Acosta's account came up with nothing.

In addition, CNN published a story in January titled, "Disease detectives hunting down more information about 'super spreader' of Wuhan coronavirus," Fox News noted, adding that the network's senior medical correspondent used the word "Wuhan" a dozen times.