SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2020. (Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
'Sick and Heartless': Wilbur Ross Says Deadly Coronavirus Could 'Accelerate' Return of Jobs to US
"This is the kind of thing you say when you have no soul."
Jan 29, 2020
President Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday suggested the deadly coronavirus that has sparked fears of a global pandemic could have a bright side, at least for the United States: more jobs.
"Every American's heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus, so I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease," Ross said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. "But the fact is it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain."
"It's another risk factor that people need to take into account," added Ross. "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to [the] U.S., probably some to Mexico as well."
"Ah, that's a good point actually," responded Bartiromo.
Watch:
\u201cSecretary Wilbur Ross says coronavirus will be good for [checks notes] American jobs: "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1580388447
The coronavirus has killed at least 170 people in China and infected nearly 8,000 more as the Chinese government and other nations have worked to contain the outbreak with travel bans and restrictions.
Ross' rosy assessment of potential U.S. economic gains from the virus was immediately denounced as grossly callous.
\u201cThese people are so sick and heartless. And just imagine the uproar if a member of any other administration said this.\n\nCommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says China\u2019s coronavirus \u2018will help\u2019 bring jobs back to U.S. https://t.co/KRXR8v4a7Q\u201d— msignorile@mstdn.social (@msignorile@mstdn.social) 1580392342
"This is the kind of thing you say when you have no soul," tweeted Jonathan Metzl, director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday suggested the deadly coronavirus that has sparked fears of a global pandemic could have a bright side, at least for the United States: more jobs.
"Every American's heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus, so I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease," Ross said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. "But the fact is it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain."
"It's another risk factor that people need to take into account," added Ross. "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to [the] U.S., probably some to Mexico as well."
"Ah, that's a good point actually," responded Bartiromo.
Watch:
\u201cSecretary Wilbur Ross says coronavirus will be good for [checks notes] American jobs: "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1580388447
The coronavirus has killed at least 170 people in China and infected nearly 8,000 more as the Chinese government and other nations have worked to contain the outbreak with travel bans and restrictions.
Ross' rosy assessment of potential U.S. economic gains from the virus was immediately denounced as grossly callous.
\u201cThese people are so sick and heartless. And just imagine the uproar if a member of any other administration said this.\n\nCommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says China\u2019s coronavirus \u2018will help\u2019 bring jobs back to U.S. https://t.co/KRXR8v4a7Q\u201d— msignorile@mstdn.social (@msignorile@mstdn.social) 1580392342
"This is the kind of thing you say when you have no soul," tweeted Jonathan Metzl, director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University.
President Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday suggested the deadly coronavirus that has sparked fears of a global pandemic could have a bright side, at least for the United States: more jobs.
"Every American's heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus, so I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease," Ross said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. "But the fact is it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain."
"It's another risk factor that people need to take into account," added Ross. "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to [the] U.S., probably some to Mexico as well."
"Ah, that's a good point actually," responded Bartiromo.
Watch:
\u201cSecretary Wilbur Ross says coronavirus will be good for [checks notes] American jobs: "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1580388447
The coronavirus has killed at least 170 people in China and infected nearly 8,000 more as the Chinese government and other nations have worked to contain the outbreak with travel bans and restrictions.
Ross' rosy assessment of potential U.S. economic gains from the virus was immediately denounced as grossly callous.
\u201cThese people are so sick and heartless. And just imagine the uproar if a member of any other administration said this.\n\nCommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says China\u2019s coronavirus \u2018will help\u2019 bring jobs back to U.S. https://t.co/KRXR8v4a7Q\u201d— msignorile@mstdn.social (@msignorile@mstdn.social) 1580392342
"This is the kind of thing you say when you have no soul," tweeted Jonathan Metzl, director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.