Fauci Dismisses Theory From Trump, Pompeo That Coronavirus Emerged From Chinese Lab
President Donald Trump claims to have seen evidence that the coronavirus came from a laboratory in Wuhan, but top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says there’s no such thing.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director said in a new interview with National Geographic that there is no evidence the coronavirus was artificially created in a Chinese laboratory. “Fauci has become the scientific face of America’s COVID-19 response, and he says the best evidence shows the virus behind the pandemic was not made in a lab in China,” National Geographic wrote.
This comes after Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others floated the theory that the virus was manmade — despite skepticism from the U.S. intelligence community.
Here’s what Trump said last week when asked if he has seen anything that gives him confidence Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Yes, I have. Yes, I have. And I think the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because they’re like the public relations agency for China.
Trump declined to elaborate on what kind of evidence he was speaking to.
As for Dr. Fauci, he told National Geographic: “If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what’s out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,” Fauci said. “Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species.”
In a separate interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Fauci was asked for his thoughts about those who want the national economy to reopen despite the risk of another Covid-19 outbreak. Fauci acknowledged that he cannot force people to maintain social distancing, but explained he is compelled to provide information “based on evidence and based on experience.”
“I feel I have a moral obligation to give the kind of information that I am giving,” said Fauci. “People are going to make their own choices, I cannot force people under every circumstance to do what you’d think is best.”
Trump’s supporters have called for Fauci’s firing during their protests of nationwide lockdowns, and even though the president has denied any plan to do so, he gave weight to the possibility last month when he retweeted a social media post saying #FireFauci. Fauci acknowledged his critics to CNN, saying “there are people that are going to be disagreeing with me. Some of them, rather violently in many respects, telling me that I am crazy, fire Fauci, do this, do that.”
“That is part of the game,” Fauci said. “I am just going to keep giving you the information that I feel is necessary to make that decisions that I think are prudent decisions.”
Watch above, via CNN.
