ADL researchers, in a report released in tandem with the study, identified former President Donald Trump as a contributing factor to the rise in online hate and harassment, noting the center saw an 85% increase in anti-Asian sentiment on Twitter after Trump announced he had contracted Covid-19, which he repeatedly referred to as the “China virus,” the “China plague” or “kung flu.” “The spike in physical violence against Asian Americans across the nation was whipped up in large part by bigotry and conspiracy theories that grew online, fanned by national leaders, including former President Trump’s incendiary rhetoric,” the report read. |