There’s Information Indicating Coronavirus Originated From Chinese Lab – Trump

President Donald Trump said Thursday he has seen evidence suggesting the novel coronavirus originated in a virology lab in Wuhan, China.

Trump did not provide any evidence to support that assertion, and he seemed to hedge a bit by saying there were many “theories” about the origin of the virus. He has repeatedly called for an investigation into the origin of the virus, part of what critics say is an effort to shift blame to China amid growing criticism of Trump’s missteps in response to the crisis.

The president’s comment on Thursday came just hours after his director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, issued a statement on behalf of the U.S. intelligence community stating there was broad agreement the virus was not man-made or genetically modified.

But that statement left open the question of whether the virus was accidentally released by a laboratory in China, where the virus first emerged before spreading across the globe, or whether it came from animals and then jumped to humans, as the Chinese government has stated.

The intelligence community “will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, led by Richard Grenell, said in a statement.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested, without citing evidence, that the virus may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – a theory that many scientists have disputed.

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Trump seemed to lend credence to that theory on Thursday, even though the national intelligence director’s statement said that question was unresolved.

Asked if he had seen “anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus,” Trump responded: “Yes I have. Yes I have.“

The president said he could not divulge what gave him that high degree of confidence. And he seemed to hedge on his assertion later, saying “there’s a lot of theories” about the origin of the virus. “We’re going to see where it is, we’re going to see where it comes from,” Trump said.

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