Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News on Tuesday that if China has evidence that the coronavirus did not originate in a Wuhan laboratory, “they need to bring it forward to the world.”
Cotton said on “America’s Newsroom” that “all of the evidence, albeit circumstantial, points directly” at two labs in Wuhan, and that there’s no evidence that the virus originated at a market in the city.
"Now, all the evidence pointing to those labs -- the fact that they use bats, that they research coronaviruses, that they have a history of bad safety practices, that the original person infected with the virus had no contact with the market -- all of that is circumstantial evidence to be sure," he said.
"But, in intelligence questions, we rarely get direct or conclusive evidence," Cotton added. "So, I agree that all of the evidence -- albeit circumstantial -- points directly at those labs."
He continued, "And, if the Chinese Communist Party has evidence to the contrary, they need to bring it forward to the world.”
Cotton concluded, "Now, whether the virus was genetically modified or engineered is a highly technical scientific question. And, the weight of scientific opinion right now, that, 'No, this was a naturally occurring virus.' But, a naturally occurring virus can, of course, be present in a laboratory where it's being studied. That is a different question from saying that laboratory may have had bad safety practices and there could have been an accidental breach which was the original source of what has become this terrible pandemic."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.