poor choice of words aside it was meant earnestly with no offense behind it.
even if you don't agree, which i don't, one can at least understand why he said it, given joe's often overly familiar way of speaking about others, and the fact that the president is 78 and matsuyama isn't out of his 20s
'china virus', 'kung flu' on the other hand, was thought up as an insult, accusation, and chanted by the other guy in a purely antagonistic and derogatory way. saying 'but other diseases are named for origins and people like west nile virus, spanish flu, etc' is deliberately ignoring the narrative context in which the other guy chose to introduce and perpetuate his covid nicknames
in any case medical research nowadays means new pathogens are far more than just where they came from but that's a different point entirely
the righties throwing a shitfit over this low hanging fruit should go on record saying china virus is also racist otherwise, it's pretty clear they don't actually care at all.
