Glenn Kessler Reflects on Covid-19 Lab Leak Remarks

Glenn Kessler, a former fact-checker at the Washington Post, acknowledged on Thursday that he was “double wrong” in 2020 when he labeled the Covid-19 lab leak theory as unlikely. In a conversation with Ira Stoll, founder of the website The Editors, Kessler discussed a piece from the Washington Post titled “Novel coronavirus is misreleased by Wuhan lab,” which stirred controversy and sparked distrust among conservative readers.

Kessler defended his team’s overall efforts but noted that using the phrase “it’s suspicious” in their reporting may have contributed to the backlash. He shared that after the article was published, co-author Sarah Curran reached out to him to express her regret over that wording, suggesting it might have given a misleading impression of certainty.

“One of the reporters for this work came to me the next day and said, ‘I think I made a real mistake by putting “suspect” here,’” Kessler recounted. He admitted that it might have made things seem more definitive than intended. “It’s on me. I’ve been ruined,” he added, mentioning that Curran, who has since left the Washington Post, had advised him to be cautious in future reporting.

Kessler emphasized that fact-checking should focus primarily on proving the virus’s origin rather than validating the lab leak theory itself. “That’s the headline,” he stated, acknowledging, though, that readers often remember the more sensational headlines rather than the nuanced content that follows. Acknowledging this, he reflected, “It’s me.”

Attempts to get a comment from the Washington Post went unanswered.

Kessler previously remarked that the evidence in 2020 strongly inclined toward a natural origin of the virus. However, he has recently recognized that the lack of transparency from the Chinese government on the matter complicates evaluation. He has shifted his focus in current fact-checks, noting that claims about the virus as a bioweapon have also influenced the discussion.

In a 2021 update, Kessler admitted that new evidence had made the lab leak theory more plausible, contrasting it with previous assertions. Members of the Trump administration actively promoted the theory in 2020, but Kessler suggested their claims were often obscured by interpersonal and political dynamics at play.

The Washington Post had initially dismissed the lab leak theory, labeling it a “coronavirus conspiracy” early in the pandemic, which created friction in public discourse around this topic.