Republican congressional candidate Kathaleen Wall is using the coronavirus outbreak as the centerpiece for a new campaign ad airing in the Houston media market.

“China poisoned our people,” a narrator says in the ad, which then lauds President Donald Trump for calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus.”

“Wall will cut off trade, aid, and support to China,” the narrator says. “China is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a sovereign nation.”

Wall is hardly alone in trying to place blame for the coronavirus outbreak on China. Other Texas Republicans including U.S. Sens John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have pinned blame on China for their mishandling of the virus at the start of the outbreak.

“It’s no coincidence China’s been the source of most of these contagions breaking out — SARS, MERS, the swine flu — because of some of the cultural practices there,” Cornyn said in mid-March in which he pinpointed exotic markets in China where bats and snakes are served.

Cornyn’s statement was rated False by the independent fact-checking group PolitiFact.

During an interview on KFYO radio in Lubbock, Cruz made clear China “bears enormous responsibility” for letting the pandemic get out of control.

“For months they tried to keep it secret,” Cruz said.

Wall’s ad is airing as she donates portable hand sanitizers to the Houston Police Officers Union. In a picture of the donation posted on her Twitter page, the hand sanitizers have a “Made in China” label on them.

Wall is running for the 22nd Congressional District, which includes most of Fort Bend County and portions of Brazoria and Harris counties. She and former Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls are battling in a Republican Primary runoff now scheduled for July 14.

It is an honor to be able to help our local law enforcement protect our community during #COVID19. Keep up the good work @HPOUTX https://t.co/WVZ84EAzRh — Kathaleen Wall for Texas (@WallforTX) March 25, 2020

Nehls won 40 percent of the vote during the March 3 Republican primary to Wall’s 19 percent. The race was forced into a runoff because no candidate hit 50 percent of the vote.

Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni will face the winner in November in the general election. He was quick to blast Wall’s ad.

“Irresponsible, race-baiting comments like these from Kathaleen Wall are unacceptable and dangerous to TX-22’s large Asian American and Pacific Islander population, who are intimately aware of the FBI warning about the recent surge of hate crimes against their community,” Kulkarni said.

The candidates are battling to replace U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, who announced in 2019 he would not seek re-election. In 2018, Olson won re-election but by just 5 percentage points, leading Democrats to make the race one of their top targets in the 2020 elections.

TOP FINISHERS IN THE MARCH 3 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY FOR THE 22nd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT TOP FINISHERS IN THE MARCH 3 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY FOR THE 22nd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Troy Nehls: 40.45% Kathaleen Wall: 19.42% Pierce Bush: 15.43% Greg Hill: 14.1% Dan Mathews: 2.96% Source: Texas Division of Elections