Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, repeatedly defended communist China during two interviews Sunday morning.
Fauci gave the defenses of China when he was asked about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, which many experts believe occurred during an accident at a lab in Wuhan.
Fauci claimed during an interview with CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that China often “acts secretive” even “when there’s nothing at all to hide.” Fauci pointed to the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak in the early 2000s as an example.
However, a 2003 report from The New York Times highlighted that China later admitted to underreporting cases of the disease and that the actual number of cases was “many times higher than previously reported.”
Brennan then mentioned how a recent op-ed from The Washington Post editorial board said that “the cover-up is immense and still in place” and that China needed to allow a new investigation into the pandemic’s origins.
“Do you agree with that word cover-up?” Brennan asked. “And intentional distortion?”
“I don’t know what that means,” Fauci responded. “I’m not sure what they’re talking about. I mean, if cover-up is not allowing people to come in and look at all the data, that’s not a cover, that’s not being transparent.”
Anthony Fauci is asked if he agrees with using the words "cover-up" and "intentional distortion" to describe China's role in COVID.
FAUCI: "I don't know what that means, no." pic.twitter.com/NbJnIG1AuC
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 27, 2022
Fauci then defended China for not turning over its primary data from the pandemic by blaming the Trump administration.
“They can say, oh, you know, it’s in frozen food, or it’s in this or it’s in that. But there’s no primary data,” Fauci said. “The [World Health Organization] went in and saw some of the data, which some of which was actually quite helpful. But we- you know what we need, Margaret, we need a transparency and a collaboration to open things up so that we can discuss it in a non-accusatory way.”
“What happens is that if you look at the anti-China approach, that clearly the Trump administration had right from the very beginning, and the accusatory nature, the Chinese are going to flinch back and say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, we’re not going to talk to you about it,’ which is not correct,” Fauci continued. “They should be.”
When Brennan mentioned that China is still not cooperating with U.S. officials, Fauci defended the Biden administration by saying that the “horse is out of the barn.”
During an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Fauci again defended China over accusations that the communist nation is covering up the pandemic’s origins.
“Now there would be one theory as to why is the Chinese government acting so peculiar and weird, and they still have not come clean on what they can tell us about the start of this pandemic, have they?” Todd asked.
“Yeah. Yeah. That is true,” Fauci answered. “And that is, in some respects, and I don’t mean this in a broad pejorative way, but in anything that we’ve had to do over decades, whether it’s bird flu, H5N1, H7N9, or the original SARS in 2002, even when there’s nothing to hide they act in a suspicious, non-transparent way just probably because they don’t want to make it look like there’s a blame. When the reality is, if something evolves in your country, it’s not to blame but let’s find out what went on so we can be transparent about it and prevent it for the next time happening.”
"Why is the Chinese government acting so peculiar and weird?"
ANTHONY FAUCI: "I don't mean this in a broad, pejorative way, but…even when there's nothing to hide, they act in a suspicious, non-transparent way." pic.twitter.com/1zRRNUCWPf
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 27, 2022