Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Monday denied allegations that he was involved in downplaying the idea that the new coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
Fauci testified before the House Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 about the COVID-19 response.
During the hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Asked Fauci was asked if he agreed there was “pressure to downplay the lab leak claim.”
“Nothing on my side,” Fauci responded.
“Really?” said Jordan, who seemed surprised by Fauci’s answer.
“Really,” Fauci added.
“Wow,” Jordan added, “I think most people in the country think it’s great.”
Rep. Jim Jordan: “Do you agree that there has been a move to downplay the lab leak theory?”
Fauci: “Nothing on my side”
Rep. Jim Jordan: “Really? That’s amazing.” pic.twitter.com/X4ZYBzOuCb
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 3, 2024
As Breitbart News previously reported, Fauci denied the idea that the coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China.
In an interview National Geographic In May 2020, Dr. Fauci pointed to “the evolution of the virus in bats and what’s currently there” as scientific evidence that the coronavirus “could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated.”
National Geographic Fauci added that he “does not accept the alternative theory that someone discovered a coronavirus in nature, brought it into a lab and it escaped by accident.”
While speaking The New York Times During a June 2021 podcast, Fauci downplayed theories that the coronavirus originated from a Wuhan lab, calling these theories “very, very, very, very, very unlikely.”
A month ago, The Wall Street Journal It has released a confidential US intelligence report alleging that three researchers working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) experienced coronavirus-like symptoms and were hospitalized in November 2019.
“The U.S. government has reason to believe that multiple researchers within the WIV became ill with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and a seasonal illness in the fall of 2019, before the first confirmed cases,” a State Department fact sheet issued based on classified information during the Trump administration said.
The Jan. 15 fact sheet added that the revelations “call into question Dr. Shi’s credibility” and criticized Beijing’s “deception and disinformation” while acknowledging that the U.S. government has not determined exactly how the pandemic began.
Fauci maintains he is “open-minded” about the coronavirus lab leak theory, despite having repeatedly denied the possibility of it being a lab leak.
