On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” co-host Brianna Keilar said that White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci “never said that COVID-19 did not come from a lab. What he said was there was no scientific evidence supporting that it did.” And that for former President Donald Trump, the lab leak theory “was less about finding the truth and more about finding a scapegoat as he made racist comments deflecting from his own poor political performance and coincided with higher rates of hate crimes against Asian Americans.”
After playing a clip of Fauci conceding that it’s possible the virus originated in a lab, Keilar said, “To be clear, Dr. Fauci never said that COVID-19 did not come from a lab. What he said was there was no scientific evidence supporting that it did. And later in that very same interview, Fauci said investigators still say the spread was likely natural, meaning zoonotic, starting from an animal that transmitted it to humans, which has long been the explanation that was more broadly considered as likely, that it began in Wuhan’s seafood market, where there were also a number of animals.”
Keilar further stated that there was reporting that gave credence to the lab theory, and Fauci argued against the theory.
She also said that in April of 2020, “many Republicans were trying to turn blame for the worsening situation from Trump’s policies to China.”
Keilar added that the Trump administration didn’t produce proof to back up their claims on the lab leak theory. And “At the time, Dr. Fauci insisted the evidence showed the virus almost certainly evolved naturally and it was a circular argument to suggest otherwise.”
She concluded that China’s lack of transparency complicates the story, “And for Trump, the question of the lab theory was less about finding the truth and more about finding a scapegoat as he made racist comments deflecting from his own poor political performance and coincided with higher rates of hate crimes against Asian Americans.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett