“60 Minutes” did a story tonight on Mike Pompeo and accused him of attempting “to resurrect a debunked theory that the virus was man-made in China”:
As the U.S. took the lead for illness and death from coronavirus, the White House moved the focus to the Chinese government. Last Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attempted to resurrect a debunked theory that the virus was man-made in China. https://t.co/MZbfe4LeXi pic.twitter.com/bIjTRfboTg
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 10, 2020
As far as we can tell, this claim in the tweet above is tied to this quote from Sec. Pompeo appearance on ABC’s “This Week” where he said, the” best experts so far seem to think [COVID-19] as man-made” before quickly clarifying his remark. Via Reuters on May 3:
“The best experts so far seem to think it was man-made. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point,” Pompeo said. When the interviewer pointed out that was not the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies, Pompeo backtracked, saying: “I’ve seen what the intelligence community has said. I have no reason to believe that they’ve got it wrong.”
Later reporting made it clear that he was talking about a natural virus escaping from the lab, which “60 Minutes” doesn’t seem to care about at all:
CHINA COVERUP? Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there's "enormous" signs the outbreak originated from a lab in Wuhan — but stopped short of saying it was man-made — as U.S. intel accuses China of hiding the extent of the epidemic. @DymburtNews reports. https://t.co/v5OEVFksm9 pic.twitter.com/NT7rjogf9B
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) May 4, 2020
And Sec. Pompeo released this statement on May 8 incase it still wasn’t clear:
Mike Pompeo: "We haven’t seen any evidence that this was a biological weapons effort that led to this. Indeed, the Intelligence Community concluded that this was…not a man-made virus. Fair enough."https://t.co/XaAgNMMyvo
— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) May 8, 2020
So, “60 Minutes” has some explaining to do:
Because a lot of @CBSNews and @60Minutes personnel follow me, every single one of you is a tool of the Red Chinese for saying this unless you openly reject this falsehood. https://t.co/bGxJV7aikW
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) May 11, 2020
This is simply a lie. CBS should apologize and retract.
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) May 11, 2020
This is not what Pompeo claimed. And the belief this walked out of a lab is not partisan, it's about China's lax protections. Describing that as conspiratorial is a concession to the CCP.
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) May 11, 2020
We’re in the middle of a pandemic and the media is failing:
Media outlets will either figure out that it becomes infinitely harder to fight cuckoo for cocoa puffs pandemic documentary videos on Facebook when they themselves can't get very basic facts right, or they won't. https://t.co/V8b4lkDQWx
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 10, 2020
These networks have entire teams of people who watch 4Chan and Reddit and Facebook for conspiracy shit and in the meantime stand by while their own colleagues sell basic untruths. It's mindboggling they don't get one leads to the other. Or they do and don't care.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 10, 2020
And here’s AG with one of his perfect threads on the matter:
This is a lie. I’m getting very tired of watching major news organizations spread claims. Pompeo referenced evidence that it originated at a lab, not that it was man-made. These news organizations have been dishonestly conflating the 2 for months. There is no more exuse for it. https://t.co/NXdeeXxexp
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) May 10, 2020
And the lie has a purpose. NIH is cutting the grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where intel agencies increasingly think COVID-19 may have originated. 60 minutes paints that as a conspiracy to dismiss cutting the grant as irresponsible. https://t.co/j2DDdQcV9t
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) May 11, 2020
There is plenty of circumstantial evidence to support that belief, just no direct proof (which may now be impossible bc of China's coverup). If it did leak from there, should we continue to fund research there?
Maybe, but it's not unreasonable to say no or at least pause.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) May 11, 2020
Instead of looking at the possibility honestly and considering the evidence (proximity, China's history of leaks from similar labs in Bejing, the lab's focus, evidence they locked down and cleaned the lab), they twist claims and dismiss it as a political conspiracy.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) May 11, 2020
60 minutes and other outlets have basically resorted to spreading propaganda on behalf of China's regime by framing it this way. A few months ago it was possible to conclude the reporters doing it are just ignorant, but now this is indefensible and deplorable.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) May 11, 2020
Btw almost every major news organization originally cited one expert to determine the virus is not man-made. And for good reason, Richard Ebright, is the top expert in this field. Ebright has repeatedly said COVID-19 could have escaped from that lab: https://t.co/GJObGv7IqP
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) May 11, 2020
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