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Scientist Admits Peers Didn’t Promote Lab-Leak Theory Because Trump Did
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:39 pm
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:39 pm
Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, admitted in an interview published Wednesday that many scientists didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility of the lab-leak theory of COVID-19 origin last year because it was associated with former President Donald Trump.
In May, Chan joined 17 other scientists to publish a letter in Science calling for more investigation into the theory that COVID-19 accidentally escaped a Wuhan lab in China. The evidence available in support of the lab-leak theory has not substantially changed in recent months, but corporate media, government officials and scientists have largely become more accepting of the possibility that the pandemic originated that way.
According to Chan, that shift has happened for purely political reasons. “At the time, it was scarier to be associated with Trump and to become a tool for racists, so people didn’t want to publicly call for an investigation into lab origins,” she told NBC News.
Unlike many of her colleagues, Chan has called for a full exploration of the lab-leak hypothesis since the early days of the pandemic. She published a paper in May 2020 pointing out that COVID-19 was particularly well-adapted to spread in humans, which could be an indicator of a lab-leak.
Now, while Chan says an investigation could still plausibly lead to a natural origin, the lab leak still cannot be dismissed: “There’s precedents for lab leaks, the genetic data could swing either way, and the epidemiological data, which is how it unfolded in Wuhan, can also swing either way.”
Chan isn’t the first member of the scientific community to admit that resistance to the lab-leak theory was largely driven by politics. J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR in May that scientists “recoiled” against the theory because of Trump: “[It] got jumbled up together with some of the more crazy aspects of Trump, and scientists recoiled against that and went in favor of the theory that COVID-19 had emerged out of a natural process versus a lab escape.”
Washington Post senior reporter Aaron Blake made a similar admission in May.
“Given everything we know about how Trump handled such things, caution and skepticism were invited. That (very much warranted) caution and skepticism spilled over into some oversimplification, particularly when it came to summarizing the often more circumspect reporting,” Blake wrote. (RELATED: Fauci Claimed His Approach From The Beginning Was To ‘Keep An Open Mind’ On Lab-Leak Theory)
Proponents of the lab-leak theory were initially dismissed as “conspiracy theorists” by legacy media. Now, people across the political spectrum are openly getting behind the theory.
LINK
In May, Chan joined 17 other scientists to publish a letter in Science calling for more investigation into the theory that COVID-19 accidentally escaped a Wuhan lab in China. The evidence available in support of the lab-leak theory has not substantially changed in recent months, but corporate media, government officials and scientists have largely become more accepting of the possibility that the pandemic originated that way.
According to Chan, that shift has happened for purely political reasons. “At the time, it was scarier to be associated with Trump and to become a tool for racists, so people didn’t want to publicly call for an investigation into lab origins,” she told NBC News.
Unlike many of her colleagues, Chan has called for a full exploration of the lab-leak hypothesis since the early days of the pandemic. She published a paper in May 2020 pointing out that COVID-19 was particularly well-adapted to spread in humans, which could be an indicator of a lab-leak.
Now, while Chan says an investigation could still plausibly lead to a natural origin, the lab leak still cannot be dismissed: “There’s precedents for lab leaks, the genetic data could swing either way, and the epidemiological data, which is how it unfolded in Wuhan, can also swing either way.”
Chan isn’t the first member of the scientific community to admit that resistance to the lab-leak theory was largely driven by politics. J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR in May that scientists “recoiled” against the theory because of Trump: “[It] got jumbled up together with some of the more crazy aspects of Trump, and scientists recoiled against that and went in favor of the theory that COVID-19 had emerged out of a natural process versus a lab escape.”
Washington Post senior reporter Aaron Blake made a similar admission in May.
“Given everything we know about how Trump handled such things, caution and skepticism were invited. That (very much warranted) caution and skepticism spilled over into some oversimplification, particularly when it came to summarizing the often more circumspect reporting,” Blake wrote. (RELATED: Fauci Claimed His Approach From The Beginning Was To ‘Keep An Open Mind’ On Lab-Leak Theory)
Proponents of the lab-leak theory were initially dismissed as “conspiracy theorists” by legacy media. Now, people across the political spectrum are openly getting behind the theory.
LINK
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:42 pm to FlexDawg
But there is no way they would ever politicize global warming...
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:43 pm to FlexDawg
Basically, all of 2020 was one version of election interference or another.
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:43 pm to FlexDawg
They saw that Trump got beat TF up and didn't want any part of that.
This is how cancel culture can get us killed.
This is how cancel culture can get us killed.
This post was edited on 6/17/21 at 6:07 pm
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:45 pm to FlexDawg
Bunch of assholes. Yes, God will judge them and He'll judge me for judging them. UGH.
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:45 pm to FlexDawg
Only liars and the intellectually inept couldn’t see this.
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:52 pm to FlexDawg
So have they really been following "science" at all?
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:55 pm to FlexDawg
This is middle school girl type behavior, only with real life implications.
Posted on 6/17/21 at 5:56 pm to FlexDawg
(no message)
This post was edited on 6/17/21 at 6:16 pm
Posted on 6/17/21 at 6:13 pm to Crimson Wraith
They may be getting closer to admit that as goal post shifts regularly
Posted on 6/17/21 at 6:17 pm to FlexDawg
Trump is proven right again and again and again and again.
Posted on 6/17/21 at 6:41 pm to FlexDawg
Least shocking thing Ive heard today.
Filth. All of them.
Filth. All of them.
Posted on 6/17/21 at 6:52 pm to FlexDawg
I'll take ' Things everyone already knew but were too afraid to admit ' for 1000, Alex.
This post was edited on 6/17/21 at 6:53 pm
Posted on 6/17/21 at 7:00 pm to FlexDawg
quote:
According to Chan, that shift has happened for purely political reasons. “At the time, it was scarier to be associated with Trump and to become a tool for racists, so people didn’t want to publicly call for an investigation into lab origins,” she told NBC News.
The mental gymnastics is amazing. Trump called for an investigation in a possible lab leak but we were totally against it because Trump. Furthermore we helped demonize and destroy anyone who discussed this theory because Trump. Trump is evil……6 months later: We need an investigation into the lab leak possibly of Covid! Guess what dumbass? Trump called for an investigation over a year ago and just because you wait six months until he’s out of office doesn’t change that association… I go as far as to say that whatever evil you claim Trump is, it takes a person with equal or greater evil in their heart to know the man is right and yet willingly vilify him and his supporters for knowing they are right. You chose a lie over truth out of pure hatred and nothing more.
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