Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul came prepared for his latest showdown on Capitol Hill with Dr. Anthony Fauci Tuesday. Paul confronted Fauci on the fact that the U.S. federal government was funding the Coronavirus bat project at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the outbreak, which Former President Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo pinpointed as having originated from the Wuhan lab.
Recently, Trump denounced Fauci in a statement and referenced the U.S. federal government’s ill-fated financial support for the Wuhan lab under Fauci’s watch.
“Dr. Fauci, do you still support the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?” Paul asked.
“Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect. The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Fauci claimed.
After defining what gain of function research is according to 200 scientists, Paul then asked Fauci if he simply supported the NIH using taxpayer money to fund the Wuhan lab.
“Do you still support sending money to the Wuhan Virology Institute?” Paul asked.
Fauci again insisted that the NIH doesn’t fund the Wuhan lab in any way.
“We do not send money to the Wuhan Virology Institute,” Fauci said.
“We did,” Paul corrected, “Under your tutelage, we were sending it through EcoHealth – it was a subagency and a sub-grant. Do you support that the money from NIH that was going to the Wuhan Institute?”
Fauci finally acknowledged that the NIH sent money to the Wuhan lab, saying, “Let me explain to you why that was done.”
“The SARS-CoV-1 originated in bats in China,” Fauci continued. “It would have been irresponsible of us if we did not investigate the bat viruses and the serology to see who might have been infected.”
Paul then noted that sending any money to the Communist Chinese government was likely a bad idea.
“Or perhaps it would be responsible to send it to the Chinese government – that we may not be able to trust – with this knowledge and with these incredible dangerous viruses,” Paul said. “Government scientists like you who favor gain of function research – “
“I don’t favor gain of function research in China, you are saying things that are not correct!” Fauci exclaimed.
Watch:
This is an excerpt from National File.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
