Trump slams Democrats including Kamala who called him 'xenophobic' for pushing Wuhan leak theory and says China needs to pay - even if it was an accident
Former President Donald Trump hit out at Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris for denying theories he promoted as president that the coronavirus leaked from a lab in China, and said the Communist country would have to pay even if it was accidental.
Speaking to Dr. Nicole Saphier on Fox Nation Wednesday, Trump said he was surprised at the recent traction the theories that the coronavirus leaked from the Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology have gained, saying that now, 'it's the biggest subject there is in America today.'
'You know that I said it a long time ago right from the beginning, and when you look at Wuhan and that's where it all started and then you look at the Wuhan lab and that's what they were doing it seemed pretty obvious to me,' he said.
Former President Donald Trump said he was surprised at the traction the theory that the coronvairus emerged from a Chinese lab had gained recently in a Fox Nation interview on Wednesday
The first coronavirus cases were recorded in China's Wuhan province, and Democrats had dismissed the lab-leak theory, with Harris going so far as to say Trump's comments on the possibility constituted, 'racist and xenophobic rhetoric against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants directly puts their lives at risk,' in a June, 2020 tweet.
The theory, however, has gained some renewed attention in recent weeks, when President Joe Biden late last month ordered an intelligence review into the origins of the virus, including the possibility that it emerged from a Chinese lab.
'I'm a little surprised they would even do it, because it seemed to be fading, and now it’s the biggest subject there is in America today and probably throughout the world,' Trump said.
He said he has some theories as to why his claims were dismissed outright.
'They love to cancel out certain people,' Trump said of his critics. 'I guess I'd be at the top of the list, but certainly when I mentioned Wuhan, they tried to play it down, and then they try and take credit for it later.'
'The Democrats fought it all the way I don't know why,' he later added. 'It doesn't make them look better or worse if it was Wuhan or somewhere else, but they fought it, maybe because that's what I thought.'
In addition to the intelligence review, it recently emerged that a government laboratory in California concluded in May 2020 that COVID-19 may have escaped from a facility in Wuhan, and recommended further investigation.
Scientists at the the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, near Berkeley, analyzed the genetic makeup of the virus to try to understand how it evolved.
They passed their May 27, 2020 findings on to the State Department in October. The five-month delay was not explained.
On January 15 the State Department published a fact sheet about COVID-19, which said that 'circumstantial' evidence suggested a lab leak theory was possible.
The secret document the California lab produced was not known about until June 14, when The Wall Street Journal reported on its existence.
People familiar with the Lawrence Livermore study said that it was prepared by their 'Z Division,' which is its intelligence arm.
The California lab has not confirmed the contents of their report, which remains secret.
Renewed attention has been paid to the theory the the coronvirus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (pictured above) after President Joe Biden ordered and intelligence review into the origins of the virus, including the possibility that it leaked from a lab
If proven, Trump said the leak was likely accidental, but said China should pay
Trump was slammed by Democrats for pushing the theory, including by Kamala Harris, who before becoming vice president said it constituted, 'xenophobic rhetoric' against Asian Americans
Even if definitive evidence does emerge that the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute, Trump said he believes it was likely accidental, but consequences should follow.
'Ideally we have to make China pay, something has to happen, what they've done is a terrible thing,' he said. 'I do believe it was probably accidental but there are those that say maybe it wasn't.'
Dr. Marty Makary a professor at the John's Hopkins School of Medicine, who spoke on the show said accidents do happen even at some of the world's most prestigious labs.
'Lab accidents are common. I saw it at Harvard, at Hopkins, at all kinds of institutions that I was at that had good reputations . Lab accidents happen everywhere,' he said.
'And if they're happening at Harvard, they're happening at the Wuhan virology institute.'
Trump is doubtful, however, that definitive proof that the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute will be found, saying that the opportunity to find it has likely passed.
'I'm not hopeful for a conclusion because at this point I think China has gotten rid of the evidence,' he said.
He turned his attention to the World Health Organization (WHO), which he said had missed its opportunity to property investigate the origins of the virus.
'They've become a spokesman for China,' he said of the organization. 'They never looked where they should have looked and when they should have looked because initially was the time to catch whatever it may have been ... in terms of the evidence to get.'
The WHO sent a team to the Wuhan lab in late January, but the investigators were only allowed in for three hours, and were not granted access to all the documentation they required.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said their visit was inconclusive and upbraided China for being uncooperative.