Following reports that the U.S. Energy Department now believes the COVID-19 pandemic launched from a lab leak, Rep. Matt Gaetz fired back at critics, especially CBS News, who discredited that theory in the name of “science.”
“Everything we take as fact today was a discredited conspiracy theory and would have gotten you banned from Twitter before Elon Musk bought it,” the Florida Republican said during the latest episode of his “Firebrand” podcast.
Gaetz opened by playing a clip of a May 2020 report by “60 Minutes, which targeted Gaetz for suggesting the virus resulted from a lab mishap. At the time, Gaetz noted that the U.S. had provided a research grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, which subsequently advertised for coronavirus researchers. Gaetz then pointed out the virus erupted from Wuhan.
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On “60 Minutes,” EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, whose group was involved in the Wuhan project, defended the research, saying there was “zero evidence” of a lab leak.
He also accused Gaetz and others of politicizing science. Correspondent Scott Pelley then labeled Gaetz “dishonest and negligent” for suggesting the lab-leak idea.
Last week, however, the Energy Department reported that its research led it to believe the virus leaked from a lab, a thought also supported by the FBI.
Gaetz, on his show, also speculated that Dr. Anthony Fauci at the beginning of the pandemic “knew exactly what COVID was and exactly where it came from.” That’s because his agency had funded the research with a $3.7 million grant.
Gaetz also wondered why Pelley has not apologized for slamming doubters and “boosting and platforming corrupt scientists.”
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In his weekly newsletter to constituents, Gaetz added, “Reporters like CBS’ Scott Pelley mis-informed and lied to the public, claiming that research being done was ‘heroic’ and in the best interest of the people, when in reality it was gain-of-function research.”
“What’s even more ironic is that the United States’ very own National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded this dangerous research. That’s right — American taxpayers have unknowingly paid for the NIH to misuse and mishandle funding, indirectly paying for research in a Chinese lab that led to one of the largest pandemics in recent human history.”
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