CNN blasted President Donald Trump for contradicting the U.S. intelligence community, while dismissing the possibility that the coronavirus was leaked from a Chinese laboratory. Considering the lack of transparency from China’s government, it was premature for CNN to discount the possibility of a lab leak starting the global pandemic.
The cable news network headlined their skepticism about the Chinese lab theory, “Trump contradicts US intel community by claiming he’s seen evidence coronavirus originated in Chinese lab.” One of the theories floated by U.S., intelligence officials and Republican lawmakers is that the novel coronavirus was leaked from a virology laboratory in Wuhan, China. Wuhan was the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, which later became a global pandemic. U.S. intelligence issued a rare on-the-record statement that did not confirm or deny whether the lab theory was based on facts and evidence.
The article focused on Trump’s contradiction of the U.S. intelligence community’s statement when the president said he saw evidence about the lab theory being true. “Yes, I have,” Trump told the press, but when prodded to reveal evidence backing it up, he added, “I can’t tell you that. I’m not allowed to tell you that.”
CNN dismissed the theory and Trump’s assertion because it “undercut” the U.S. intelligence theory’s statement. The network also blamed Trump officials for trying to blame China for the virus’s origins and pushing the theory onto the intelligence community.
But CNN did not discuss how the Chinese government lied to the global public about the virus outbreak and has since organized an anti-American propaganda misinformation campaign. CNN also failed to mention that the Chinese government did not provide evidence to back up its claim that the virus started in a wet market in Wuhan, China. As a result of the lack of Chinese government transparency, Trump and the U.S. intelligence community have to assess all potential theories about the virus’s origins to ty to prevent it from happening again in the future.
CNN should recognize that all theories should be examined, and although the Trump administration favors the Wuhan lab theory, it is too early to dismiss any theory based on lack of evidence or proof.
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