McNair, in a statement to Bally Sports addressing the situation, said, "My comments at the event last May included an inappropriate choice of words. I immediately apologized to people who approached me then and I apologize again now. I know how important it is to choose my words carefully. I would never want to offend anyone."
"China Virus" was rhetoric popularized by then-President Donald Trump when COVID-19 began sweeping the world in 2020. Studies show the usage of such rhetoric helped fuel anti-Asian sentiment.
A 2021 study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, took a look at Twitter and found that 50% of tweets using the hashtag #ChinaVirus contained anti-Asian sentiment, compared to 20% of those that used more neutral hashtags like #COVID-19.