U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams raised a few eyebrows on Friday when he said Black Americans specifically should stop drinking and smoking to help reduce the death toll from the coronavirus. Yet, just days ago Adams said that behavior was not the main reason why Black communities were suffering more than others from COVID-19.

He then caused further outrage with a cringeworthy attempt at appealing to Black people.

Stay home for your big momma and others, the US Surgeon General urges. pic.twitter.com/6muDpZp981

— WANE 15 (@wane15) April 10, 2020

Adams, who is Black himself, said Black and Latino people should "avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs."

"We need you to step up. Do it for your abuela, do it for your grandaddy, do it for your Big Mama, do it for your pop pop," Adams said.

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The statement was immediately questioned by PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor.

Adams told Alcindor he didn't mean to offend anyone with his comment and was only using language he heard in his own household. He said the government needed "targeted outreach" to appeal to Black people.

"We need to continue to target our outreach to those communities. It is critically important that they understand it's not just about them. It's not just about what you do, but you also are not helpless," Adams said.

Alcindor pressed him again on the issue, asking whether all Americans needed to avoid alcohol and tobacco. He went on to say that it was not just Black people who needed to stay away from those substances.

.@Yamiche says to Surgeon General Jerome Adams that "some people online" are offended by him saying "do it for your Abuela," do it for "big momma" and "pop pop."

He says "we need targeted outreach to the African American community." pic.twitter.com/he0czJSajs

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 10, 2020

The tone-deaf line almost immediately prompted thousands of jokes online from many who said they've never called their Black mothers "Big Mama" or their fathers "Pop Pop."

Wash your hands for big momma pic.twitter.com/9a3PFuLCwE

— Snopp Doog (@chrispossible) April 10, 2020

The surgeon general telling black folks not to drink and smoke and do it for ya "paa paa and big momma". Where they get this guy from? How dumb do they think we are with this? How bout suggesting that EVERYONE cut back? Let's not do that ok?

— Claudia Jordan (@claudiajordan) April 10, 2020

Do it for ya Big Momma. #whitehousePressconference
pic.twitter.com/NbKjvRbGP2

— Phil N. DeBlank (@PhilNDeBlank) April 10, 2020

One Twitter user even noted that Trump himself gawked a bit when he heard the line.

Trump’s face when the U.S. Surgeon General calls out Big Mamma. Even Trump knows you don’t call out Big Momma in public! pic.twitter.com/M9WhFK1Pfp

— Dr. Briant Coleman (@BriantKColeman) April 10, 2020

Adams' remarks further underscored the Trump administration's lackluster, and at times clownish, response to a pandemic that is taking more and more Black lives as each day passes.

People online noted that the surgeon general's suggestion that Black people alone should stop smoking and drinking is part of a larger effort to shift blame for the high death toll onto Black communities. Decades of evidenced environmental racism, healthcare exclusion and purposefully created food deserts have led to many of the preexisting conditions causing Black people to die from the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, Adams himself said these conditions were the root cause of the high death rate and were not the fault of Black people.

White people are more likely to smoke, drink and do drugs, but we all know this is what this guy was hired to do. https://t.co/Ca73LBuYgK

— Adam Serwer???? (@AdamSerwer) April 10, 2020

Blaming Black & Brown people for health disparities b/c of racist presumptions re:substance abuse is a driver of the lethal bias POC face in healthcare. It causes Black women to be more likely to die in childbirth.

It's disturbing to see these views expressed by the Surgeon Gen.

— NotATweeter (@NotATweeter16) April 10, 2020

Dear @Surgeon_General Adams: Caucasians drink alcohol & abuse drugs at higher rates than blacks or Latinos. If you are going to make remarks that could be interpreted as offensive, at least get your facts straight. https://t.co/YdxDATrJ6u…https://t.co/yd7To9h5er
https://t.co/GkSXUKrFiu

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 10, 2020

Can someone ask the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams if he has had the balls to tell the President “we need you to step up.”

That would be a worthwhile question to hear the answer to. https://t.co/mTqee1O6Vd

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 10, 2020

These people are beneath contempt . Utterly foul. 70 days of shirking responsibility, flattering & fawning over Trump, writing silly poems playing down a threat they knew about for months at the expense of thousands of lives, & Adams comes with this crap? https://t.co/E7sLfa4qls

— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) April 10, 2020

Over the past week, data from across the country has shown that systemic health issues in Black communities were increasingly causing skyrocketing death tolls in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Detroit. as Blavity previously reported.

HBCUs are facing many challenges managing coronavirus responses and need your support. Donate to the UNCF fund today to help students impacted by the pandemic.

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