The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.
Well, now another federal agency has admitted what sensible folks knew all along: The COVID-19 virus likely did not come from a bat (via natural transmission), but from a lab in Wuhan, China. It will now be much harder for the left to continue pretending conservatives and libertarians are nutjob conspiracy theorists for daring to suggest such a thing.
But will it even matter?
The Wall Street Journal reported that the “U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak.”
The agency was previously undecided on how the coronavirus came to be. But now, it appears that it believes that the virus came from a Chinese lab.
From WSJ:
The new report highlights how different parts of the intelligence community have arrived at disparate judgments about the pandemic’s origin. The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided.
Once the news hit about the Energy Department’s findings, Republicans “pounced,” mocking the left for dismissing the lab leak theory and calling for accountability from the government and China for perpetuating the deception.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) posted a tweet arguing that those who ignored the origin of the coronavirus owed others an apology.
“The elites and academics owe everyone who had legitimate questions and concerns about the origins of COVID an apology,” he tweeted. “The American people deserve to see all the information concerning the Chinese lab leak and the origins of COVID. This won’t be forgotten.”
The elites and academics owe everyone who had legitimate questions and concerns about the origins of COVID an apology.
The American people deserve to see all the information concerning the Chinese lab leak and the origins of COVID. This won’t be forgotten. pic.twitter.com/hKARnyNgab
— Rep. Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) February 26, 2023
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), in his usual fashion, mocked Washington Post media activist Glenn Kessler for having previously made fun of him for believing the lab leak theory saying that “it is virtually impossible for this virus jump from the lab” in 2020.
“4 [clown emojis] for Glenn,” Cruz tweeted.
4 🤡’s for Glenn. https://t.co/587JmvrIOE pic.twitter.com/K0pO6BPvxp
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 26, 2023
Rep. Mike Loychik (R-OH) took the opportunity to slam Dr. Anthony Fauci for lying to the American public about the origin of the coronavirus:
COVID originated from a lab leak and everybody knew it.
Fauci chose to lie to the American people instead of giving us the truth.
He needs to pay the price.
COVID originated from a lab leak and everybody knew it.
Fauci chose to lie to the American people instead of giving us the truth.
He needs to pay the price.
— Rep. Mike Loychik (@MikeLoychik) February 26, 2023
Given the previous narrative that came from Democrats and their allies in the activist media, Republicans are entitled to spike the football a little bit. Indeed, in 2021, they tried to distract from the theory by blaming Trump for the pandemic. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Politico that “regardless of how it started, no origin can excuse the lethal recklessness of Donald Trump’s mismanagement of Covid-19.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told the news outlet that the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the matter was “less sleuthing on what’s the origin” and was focused on holding the Intelligence Community accountable. He intimated that Republicans were trying to politicize the matter. “We’ve had numerous discussions about the politicization of the intelligence and how to make sure that it’s a purely analytical objective, and that a diversity of viewpoints are considered,” he said.
This is definitely another moment of vindication for conservatives and libertarians who rightly surmised that the COVID-19 pandemic did not come from a wet market in Wuhan and instead came from a Chinese lab. Nevertheless, it does not take back the years of mockery and censorship carried out by Democratic politicians, members of the government, and the activist media.
Indeed, Big Tech companies silenced people for even speculating on the possibility that the government’s narrative about the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic was bunk. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms routinely squashed the voices of those who deigned to offer a different point of view that did not align with the Democrat-approved narrative regarding the outbreak.
But despite calls for accountability, we already know how this will play out, don’t we, dear reader? Fauci will not see any consequences for his laundry list of lies, nor will any other government official who worked to deceive the American public.
Moreover, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is still pressuring the World Health Organization to refrain from looking into the matter, won’t face any consequences. The Biden administration has already shown itself to be quite feckless when it comes to dealing with China. But to be fair, there probably isn’t much the U.S. can do about the CCP’s actions at this point.
Still, this is yet another example showing how our federal government can blatantly lie to the public with impunity, and is not going to stop doing so anytime soon.
