Jen Psaki Praises Olympian Chloe Kim for Her ‘Courage,’ Blames Trumpian Covid Rhetoric for 339% Rise in Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki praised Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim for her “courage” in speaking out about hate crimes, and blamed anti-Asian Covid rhetoric for a continued rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans.

At a White House press briefing Tuesday, Ching-Yi Chang, a correspondent for CCP-linked Shanghai Media Group’s Dragon TV, asked Psaki about the champion snowboarder.

Ms. Kim spoke recently about the fear she experienced due to a wave of anti-Asian violence which, Mr. Chang noted, spiked 339 percent in 2021.

Chang said that “the very last time you mentioned about Asian Americans was last May,” and asked “will the President take some action or even just record a video, like what he did last year to raise the awareness? asked Psaki “Will the President take some action or even just record a video, like what he did last year to raise the awareness?”

Psaki praised Kim effusively, laid out the steps President Joe Biden has taken, and lamented the “hate-filled rhetoric” around the pandemic that she says has fueled the rise in these incidents:

Well, let me say first that Chloe Kim — I’m obsessed with the Olympics, so I’m just going to give you a little biography here, but she’s 21 years old, and she made those comments, which is incredibly courageous and brave that she spoke out about the fear she had — the fear she has for her family members. And she’s not the only Asian American to do that, but she is somebody who is now a double Gold medalist. Amazing. And so I just want to take a moment to applaud her for her courage in doing that.

I will say that the President has put in place a task force. He has hired a senior-level staffer to be a representative and be someone who can speak to these threats and these concerns and these fears felt by the Asian American community, because there’s a number of steps we need to take and continue to take to address.

And we’ve seen this rise, unfortunately, because of hate-filled rhetoric and language around the origins of the pandemic. And that is something that Asian Americans across the country have been feeling.

So I can just reiterate for you that the President is absolutely committed to continuing to speak out, to crack down, to take steps, and again, would thank Chloe Kim for her courage.

Former President Donald Trump waged a lengthy campaign to rebrand Covid-19 as “the China virus” and referred to it as the “Kung Flu” and “the China plague” while he was in office. He has continued to do so since leaving office, making the reference in dozens of statements.

Both Psaki and President Joe Biden have called Trump out in the past over this pattern, and linked it to threats against people of Asian descent.

Watch above via C-Span and NBC News.