During Monday’s CNN broadcast of “Outfront,” Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, responded to a question about containing the lab-leak theory about the origins of COVID-19 by acknowledging that the theory is still a possible explanation for the virus, but said the theory is “tied up with the narrative that Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins created the coronavirus pandemic and then leaked it,” and that this narrative “creates distrust and has had a lot of negative impacts on public health.” [officials’] Their lives are at risk due to the violent death threats they have received.”
Moderator Erin Burnett asked, “I remember when Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) first wrote a story about it, it was quickly hustled. Do you know at this point why that was? Do you think it was because you had other things to focus on at the time and felt it wasn’t worth talking about at the time? Or are you still left wondering why that story was pushed aside and treated as a topic that you were really talking about at the time?”
Lewis responded: “I think the notion of a lab leak ties into the full story I mentioned earlier that Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins created the coronavirus pandemic and then it was leaked. Now, this is[n] Actual laboratory leak [separate] From the extreme accusations, we could say, based on the evidence that we have, yes, it may have been a laboratory leak, it may have been an animal source, but the whole package of stories that they were trying to push is not creating distrust and creating a huge burden on public health. [officials’] Their lives are at risk due to the violent death threats they have received.”
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