NYT Covid Reporter Tweets and Deletes Comments About Wuhan Lab Theory and Racism
Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province, (Hector Retamal/AFP, Getty Images)
New York Times science and global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli, who in her Twitter bio specifies that she “mainly” covers Covid-19, tweeted and then deleted a message on Wednesday regarding the so-called “lab leak theory” of the origin of the pandemic.
The theory that the Covid-19 pandemic began with a “leak” from the he Wuhan Institute of Virology, in other words that after it was collected and/or experimented with, it escaped and infected the general population, was long relegated to “conspiracy theory” in the press. Once Donald Trump was out of office, it became increasingly less forbidden to discuss it as scientifically plausible, eventually reaching a degree of mainstream viability. This culminated recently with Dr. Anthony Fauci stating, sort of, that he’s open to investigation of the possibility.
Mandavilli, in her Wednesday tweet, expressed a different view.
“Someday we will stop talking about the lab leak theory and maybe even admit its racist roots,” wrote Mandavilli. “But alas, that day is not here yet.”
She also sent a tweet remarking on the deletion.
Ugh, I hate deleting tweets, but the reactions are… ridiculous.
Lots of clown emojis (is that code beyond just calling me a clown), allusions to CCP and also: is "fronting corporate interests" the new "pharma shill" insult?
— Apoorva Mandavilli (@apoorva_nyc) May 26, 2021
The tweet was sent at around 9:40 in the morning on Wednesday. In the afternoon, it was gone, as attention was brought to it by both journalist Glenn Greenwald and Washington Examiner’s Jerry Dunleavy.
Dunleavy drew attention to the deleted tweet.
The New York Times COVID-19 reporter deleted this take… pic.twitter.com/md4aa9aomN
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) May 26, 2021
Greenwald posed his own question about where the racism exists in theories about how and why the viral outbreak began in China. “Can someone explain to me why it’s racist to wonder if a virus escaped from a Chinese lab, but it’s not racist to insist that it infected humans because of Chinese wet markets?” he asked.
Can someone explain to me why it's racist to wonder if a virus escaped from a Chinese lab, but it's not racist to insist that it infected humans because of Chinese wet markets? If anything, isn't the latter more racist?
Also, isn't the relevant question: *what happened*? Or no? pic.twitter.com/vSqqJnehf7
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 26, 2021
Greenwald had not at first realized which reporter it was he was engaging with.
Oh my god: I didn't realize what her job is.
The NYT's COVID reporter is saying we should stop talking about the lab leak theory — *even if it's how COVID entered humans *– because that theory (unlike, I guess, the wet market theory) is racist.
Who cares what happened: NYT. pic.twitter.com/NAtI9N2mJx
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 26, 2021
Mandavilli did not answer Greenwald’s questions, but did respond to some other replies to her statement. In one example, she admitted that the theory she hoped everyone would stop talking about might be true. “Do I think it’s possible? Sure, anything is possible,” she wrote.
Ah, but that is an entirely different question than what you said before. Do I think it's possible? Sure, anything is possible. But do I think it's plausible? Nope. And almost impossible to disprove, meaning it will probably not go away till people just lose interest
— Apoorva Mandavilli (@apoorva_nyc) May 26, 2021
The science reporter argues that it is impossible to disprove, but that she does not consider it “plausible,” which is a departure from the consensus of the World Health Organization, the U.S. Government, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and the fact that diseases have escaped labs in the past, including major outbreaks that began in China specifically.
The tweeted and deleted message has gone viral, mostly on the right side of social media.
