President Donald Trump speaks during press briefing with the Coronavirus Task Force, at the White House, Wednesday, March 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As my RedState colleague Nick Arama wrote Thursday, OANN reporter Chanel Rion created quite a stir in elite media circles yesterday during the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s daily press briefing by asking President Trump this question about some in the mainstream media who echo the talking points of the Chinese government:

Rion then said “Left wing media has teamed up with the Chinese communists” to raise objections to Trump’s use of the term “Chinese virus.” “Does it alarm you?” Rion asked the president.

Not surprisingly, Trump took the opportunity to criticize a number of news outlets for their slanted coverage, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Yes, Trump said, major media outlets are “siding with China”:

“I think they do. They are siding with China. They are doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. They’re siding with many others. China’s the least of it,” Trump said during a White House briefing on the coronavirus in response to a question from One America News (OAN). “So why they’re doing this, you’ll have to ask them,” he added. “If we had an honest media in this country our country would be an even greater place.”

Watch:

President Trump blasts the Mainstream Media: "They are siding with China" pic.twitter.com/hUPtIH2A6m — Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 19, 2020

Washington Post White House bureau chief Philip Rucker clutched pearls over the exchange, and found it especially alarming that none of Trump’s team stepped up to “correct him” on his claim:

As Tump accused major U.S. news organizations, to which millions of Americans are turning during a national emergency for accurate & factual info about the pandemic, of dishonesty and “siding with China,” VP Pence, Dr. Birx & the surgeon general stood by and did not correct him. — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) March 19, 2020

Er… what exactly needs “correcting” here?

We have major media news outlets who have been focused like laser beams on Trump’s allegedly “racist” use of the term “Chinese virus.” These same people are also obsessed about some White House official who allegedly said “Kung flu.”

Some in the mainstream media have given questions about these “issues” more priority than they have getting actual information that would be helpful to the American people as we navigate through this terrifying global pandemic.

And guess what? These questions do sound very much like Chinese government propaganda:

Racism is not the right tool to cover your own incompetence pic.twitter.com/LmGDyPsULt — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 17, 2020

I mean, China’s state-run “media” outlet is actually echoing what our media is saying:

"Racism in ink" @WashingtonPost photographer spots handwritten "Chinese" in place of crossed-out "Corona", drawing criticism from around the world https://t.co/G2XUOavlM2 pic.twitter.com/H9yNfPSRKu — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 20, 2020

Numerous Twitter users alerted Rucker to the fact that there was nothing for Trump’s team to correct:

Hi Philip, Perhaps you should actually read all of the Chinese propaganda journalists seem extremely willing to spread.https://t.co/XqlZi9RC4l — Jake R. (@jaker1419) March 20, 2020

You guys are peddling Chinese propaganda and wasting everybody's time buckering over the name of the virus you people used frequently not more than a month ago. You literally whored out your credibility to China already. — Jake R. (@jaker1419) March 20, 2020

Maybe, the media should start giving actual accurate information and stop siding with China and we’ll go from there… — BColleen (@BColleen5) March 19, 2020

Here’s you going to a Hillary Clinton staff wedding….. pic.twitter.com/nYjj5DEFGB — EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) March 19, 2020

Well they did. Many of these news outlets still take $$$ from China's government, too. Maybe they should stop doing that and parroting CCP talking points. This virus could've been contained months ago in China. They chose to lie & cover up. & US Media is helping them. — Brian Cates //Flynn & Breitbart's Army! (@drawandstrike) March 19, 2020

Facts first.