HBO late night host Bill Maher defended calling the novel coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” arguing that “pretty liberal” scientists have been “naming diseases after the places they came from for a very long time.”

Maher was responding to the angry “woke” left who’ve been triggered by President Trump also calling it the “Chinese virus.”

“Scientists, who are generally pretty liberal, have been naming diseases after the places they came from for a very long time,” Maher said Friday night broadcasting from his California home.

“Zika is from the Zika Forest. Ebola from the Ebola River. Hantavirus, the Hantan River. There’s the West Nile Virus and Guinea worm and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and of course the Spanish flu.”

“MERS stands for Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome,” Maher continued. “It’s plastered all over airports and no one blogs about it. So, why should China get a pass?”

Maher then mocked Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) over a tweet scolding a Republican colleague for saying “Chinese virus,” claiming it’s akin to calling it the “Milan virus.”

Dear @DrPaulGosar: I will pray for you, your staff & the person hospitalized. Also, calling #COVIDー19 the Wuhan Virus is an example of the myopia that allowed it to spread in the US. The virus is not constrained by country or race. Be just as stupid to call it the Milan Virus. https://t.co/of91p65mIO — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 9, 2020

“No, that would be way stupider because it didn’t come from Milan,” said Maher. “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? When they named Lyme disease after a town in Connecticut the locals didn’t get all ticked off?”

“Sorry Americans, we’re going to have to ask you to keep two ideas in your head at the same time: This has nothing to do with Asian Americans and it has everything to do with China,” Maher concluded.

“We can’t afford the luxury anymore of non-judginess towards a country with habits that kill millions of people everywhere. Because this isn’t the first time. SARS came from China. And the bird flu. And the Hong Kong flu. The Asian flu. Viruses come from China just like shortstops come from the Dominican Republic. If they were selling nuclear suitcases at these wet markets, would we be so non-judgmental?”

Only time will tell if the “woke” left cancels Maher for siding with Trump to once again blast political correctness.

Owen Shroyer and Tom Pappert discuss the recent breaking news pertaining to Communist China.