One of the most annoying left-wing narratives during the debate over the novel coronavirus has been the insistence that, suddenly, naming a disease based on where it came from is now “racist.” Thankfully, liberal late-night host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill Maher, a frequent left-leaning critic of political correctness, spoke out against this woke foolishness on his show over the weekend, exposing its silliness once and for all.

CNN reporters such as Jim Acosta originally led the charge to dub the name “Wuhan coronavirus” racist and xenophobic in their confrontations with President Trump. The Washington Post also repeatedly cited “experts” who insisted that naming a disease based on its location of origin is “racist” and foments “anti-Asian bias” — ridiculously treating all Asians as interchangeable, and as interchangeable with their governments. And the New York Times editorial board joined in on this bizarre witch hunt, decrying the name as bigoted and backwards.

Amusingly, many of these same outlets had been using terms such as “Chinese coronavirus” or “Wuhan coronavirus” in their coverage right up to that time.

This PC foolishness has even infected the halls of Congress. As Maher highlighted on his show, Rep. Ted Lieu tweeted: “The virus is not constrained by country or race. Be just as stupid to call it the Milan Virus.”

"No, that would be way stupider, because it didn't come from Milan,” Maher responded, mocking the tweet. “And if it did, I guarantee we'd be calling it the Milan Virus. Jesus f---ing Christ, can't we even have a pandemic without getting offended?"

The host explained that it has long been a common practice to name diseases in this manner, from the Spanish Flu (which was wrongly suspected of coming from Spain) to Ebola to West Nile. Only now that it offers liberal journalists and pundits an avenue of attack against Trump and Republicans has this practice spontaneously become racist.

“So, when someone says, ‘What if people hear Chinese virus and blame China?’” Maher mused. “The answer is: We should blame China. Not Chinese Americans. But we can’t stop telling the truth because racists get the wrong idea. There are always going to be idiots out there who want to indulge their prejudices. But this is an emergency — don’t we have bigger tainted fish to fry?”

Maher, of course, is completely correct.

China's government is, in large part, to blame for this pandemic. The communist regime's desperate efforts to cover up the spread of the virus, including ordering the destruction of laboratory samples, gave the virus the time it needed to spread globally. Chinese Americans, Asian people, and even the people living under the government of mainland China are obviously not to blame, as any reasonable person can see.

“Seriously, it scares me that there are people out there who would rather die from the virus than call it by the wrong name,” the host continued. “This isn’t about vilifying a culture — it’s about facts. It’s about life and death ... And the wet markets in China, where exotic animals are solid and consumed, are already starting to reopen. The PC police say it’s racist to attack any cultural practice that’s different than our own. I say liberalism lost its way when it started thinking like that.”

Liberal journalists don't appear to be learning their lesson. The Daily Beast, for instance, reported on Maher's hilarious takedown with the bizarre smear of a headline: "Bill Maher Goes on Despicably Racist Rant Against China Over Coronavirus."

How far will they keep taking this ridiculous narrative? At a certain point, the many everyday liberals who retain some sensibility about these matters will have to tell their unhinged journalist counterparts that enough is enough.