Trump-Russia: Bountygate

[Jon Banks]

Yet another astounding fake story came apart this week.  A year ago Trump accurately suggested that the virus started in the Wuhan lab.  And the Chinese were responsible.  This was met with a storm of criticism from the leftist media and widely condemned as a lie and wild "conspiracy theory."  Why?  Because they wanted Trump to be the main focal point to blame for the pandemic.  They couldn't allow the Chinese to bear any responsibility.  Fast forward a year.  Election over and Old Joe napping in the White House.  Suddenly the story changes.  The virus did likely start in the lab.  Just like any reasonable person would have known a year ago.  Just like the media knew a year ago.  No other case could be traced prior the outbreak in Wuhan.  There is a lab in that very city that deals with such viruses.  Several members of that lab were hospitalized just prior to the outbreak.  What a coincidence.  Now the media is accepting the obvious.  The entire house of cards is falling apart.  This isn't just a case of media incompetence but an intentional lie to influence the outcome of the election.

There’s no hard evidence (scientific or otherwise) that Covid-19 escaped from a Lab.

I agree that the US Media changed their tune on the Lab Leak theory due to politics.

But the facts are:

- Scientists generally agree that Covid shows no signs of being engineered in a Lab (that doesn't rule out the possibility of it being engineered. There are just no obvious signs)

- Viruses naturally jumping from animals to humans is common. Especially in China.

- No one knows when or how Covid might’ve escaped from a Lab if it didn't evolve naturally


There’s scientific evidence that Covid may have been circulating for months before it was discovered in Wuhan. You have to remember that the original outbreak coincided with Flu season so lots of early cases were likely misdiagnosed as cases of influenza. The known evidence shows that Covid-19 likely originated as early as August 2019 (if not earlier).

Given that we don’t yet know when Covid first began infecting humans, we shouldn't treat vague reports about a few Wuhan Lab workers getting sick in November 2019 (during Flu season) as a “smoking gun”.

With all that said, I find the Lab Leak origin to be plausible but based on the known facts, we're far from being able to reach any firm conclusion on the origin of the virus...

[Jerry Organ]

Sure, just coincidental Wuhan is next door to large concentrations of bat species.

The Bats Behind the Pandemic, Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2021 ( Link )

None of this occurred before the Americans (the world's biggest polluters) used
Agent Orange in Vietnam. One of the earliest viruses was found in Australia in 1970.

[Jon Banks]

Sure, just coincidental Wuhan is next door to large concentrations of bat species.

The Bats Behind the Pandemic, Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2021 ( Link )

None of this occurred before the Americans (the world's biggest polluters) used
Agent Orange in Vietnam. One of the earliest viruses was found in Australia in 1970.

The 1918 Spanish Flu was discovered by Spain but didn't originate in Spain. It originated in North America and was brought to Europe by US soldiers during WWI.

The same MAY be true of Covid-19 and it's discovery in Wuhan.

It's certainly plausible that the virus escaped from a Lab in Wuhan but it hasn't been emphasized enough that we still don't know when or where the jump from animal to human happened.

An outbreak from a Lab in Wuhan beginning in November 2019 seems unlikely and implausible based on the scientific evidence...



Researchers found that the closest type of coronavirus to the one discovered in bats – type A, the original human virus genome – was present in Wuhan, but was not the city’s predominant virus type. Mutated versions of A were seen in Americans reported to have lived in Wuhan, and a large number of A-type viruses were found in patients from the US and Australia. Wuhan’s major virus type was B and was prevalent in patients from across east Asia, however it didn’t travel much beyond the region without further mutations.

The researchers say the C variant is the major European type, found in early patients from France, Italy, Sweden and England.

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/coronavirus-mutated-three-distinct-strains-spread-across-world-12536852/?ito=cbshare

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Based on the genetic data, it appears that Covid-19 originated somewhere else in China and mutated to "Type-B" which caused the major outbreak in Wuhan.

[Richard Smith]

There’s no hard evidence (scientific or otherwise) that Covid-19 escaped from a Lab.

I agree that the US Media changed their tune on the Lab Leak theory due to politics.

But the facts are:

- Scientists generally agree that Covid shows no signs of being engineered in a Lab (that doesn't rule out the possibility of it being engineered. There are just no obvious signs)

- Viruses naturally jumping from animals to humans is common. Especially in China.

- No one knows when or how Covid might’ve escaped from a Lab if it didn't evolve naturally


There’s scientific evidence that Covid may have been circulating for months before it was discovered in Wuhan. You have to remember that the original outbreak coincided with Flu season so lots of early cases were likely misdiagnosed as cases of influenza. The known evidence shows that Covid-19 likely originated as early as August 2019 (if not earlier).

Given that we don’t yet know when Covid first began infecting humans, we shouldn't treat vague reports about a few Wuhan Lab workers getting sick in November 2019 (during Flu season) as a “smoking gun”.

With all that said, I find the Lab Leak origin to be plausible but based on the known facts, we're far from being able to reach any firm conclusion on the origin of the virus...

It doesn't take much more than common sense to figure out what happened.  Unlike other situations, there were zero cases identified anywhere else in China before it originated in Wuhan.  The very first cases were there.  Over a year later, it cannot be traced to any other area of the country.  It would be a miraculous coincidence for the pandemic to begin in the very city where this lab is located.  Regardless, the larger point stands.  This was dismissed an an outlandish conspiracy claim under Trump.  The media did that purely to place the blame for the pandemic on Trump during the election cycle and not allow any deflection of that blame on China.  There is nothing new today that was not known a year ago.  But suddenly it has become a plausible theory.

[Jon Banks]

It doesn't take much more than common sense to figure out what happened.  Unlike other situations, there were zero cases identified anywhere else in China before it originated in Wuhan.

The obvious reason is that no one knew there was a "new" virus spreading until the Chinese scientists identified it in January of 2020.

The CDC director under Trump admitted that some early Covid cases were likely misdiagnosed as the Flu.

The virus was spreading in France and and Italy earlier than the first confirmed cases in China. I don't think that proves it originated outside of China. It could mean the virus left China earlier than previously thought.

Reuters: The new coronavirus was circulating in Italy in September 2019
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-italy-timing/researchers-find-coronavirus-was-circulating-in-italy-earlier-than-thought-idUSKBN27W1J2

The very first cases were there.  Over a year later, it cannot be traced to any other area of the country.

That's false as well.

The earliest strain of the virus has been found in other parts of China hundreds of miles away from Wuhan.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-05-13/scientist-suggests-coronavirus-originated-outside-of-wuhan

"Of 23 samples that came from Wuhan, only three were type A, the rest were type B, a version two mutations from A. But in other parts of China, Forster says, initially A was the predominant strain. For instance, of nine genome samples in Guangdong, some 600 miles south of Wuhan, five were A types.

"I would be a bit careful about pinpointing a place (of origin), because we don't have many samples from the early phase," he says. "But it seems to me we shouldn't restrict ourselves to Wuhan when looking for the origin."
 

It would be a miraculous coincidence for the pandemic to begin in the very city where this lab is located. 

It would but what if it didn't begin in Wuhan? What if it was identified in Wuhan simply because they have scientists there who have the expertise to identify new viruses?

We don't yet know when the outbreak began and just because it was discovered in Wuhan doesn't mean it originated there.

While it's possible that the virus escaped from a Lab, we should keep an open mind until there's hard evidence. As of now, there's only circumstantial evidence and the date for when the outbreak began keeps changing.


U.S. intelligence chief: spy agencies do not know exactly when COVID-19 first transmitted

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-covid/u-s-intelligence-chief-spy-agencies-do-not-know-exactly-when-covid-19-first-transmitted-idUSKBN2C123S

Regardless, the larger point stands.  This was dismissed an an outlandish conspiracy claim under Trump.  The media did that purely to place the blame for the pandemic on Trump during the election cycle and not allow any deflection of that blame on China.  There is nothing new today that was not known a year ago.  But suddenly it has become a plausible theory.

Well we agree that the news media shouldn't have ruled out a Lab accident as a plausible origin for the virus. Until we know more about the earliest cases, it's on the table as a plausible explanation...