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Tucker Carlson covers Chinese scientific report claiming coronavirus pandemic ‘originated from a laboratory in Wuhan’

Tucker Carlson covers Chinese scientific report claiming coronavirus pandemic ‘originated from a laboratory in Wuhan’

Legal Insurrection discussed the report on Feb. 16.

ttps://video.foxnews.com/v/6146182586001?playlist_id=5198073478001#sp=show-clips

On Tuesday Night, Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson discussed a report claiming that the pandemic Coronaviru may have originated from a Chinese research laboratory in Wuhan.

“You might think that the World Health Organization, a group that got 58 million of your tax dollars last year, might care that a government arrests doctors and lies about deadly new diseases,” Carlson began. “But no. Like so many organizations they are lapdogs for the powerful, and that means their real job is sucking up to the Chinese government.”

Carlson went on to cite the report — which he conceded that he couldn’t independently confirm or endorse — noting that the information was at least worthy of consideration.

The report detailed the tracing of COVID-19 to the intermediate horseshoe bat — a bat that they confirmed was not available at the Wuhan wet market and did not live locally. In fact, the report noted that native populations were no closer than 600 miles away from the first known cases, making a natural transmission from bat to human appear more unlikely.

Carlson when on to note that American media outlets failed to cover the story, in spite of the fact that the report had been publicly available for nearly two months.

Legal Insurrection readers, however, have been aware of the report since mid-February. On February 16, I covered the paper in my piece: Chinese university researchers believe virus may originate from government laboratory.

So it may be that a sloppy scientist failed to follow proper decontamination protocol before exiting the laboratory. This is especially troubling as researchers who work in the highest level of biosafety containment must undergo vigorous training before using such facilities.

…The full report is here, including this conclusion:

In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high risk biohazardous laboratories. Regulations may be taken to relocate these laboratories far away from city center and other densely populated places.

As I noted in my piece, once this epidemic is contained and controlled, the Chinese need to take a long, hard look at their approach to bioethics. This will over course include a review of how its officials report figures related to the spread of disease.

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Comments

I have a hard time believing anything the mainstream media tells us. The Chinese people have been eating bats for thousands of years, yet this appears out of “nowhere”? To quote Slow Joe…….c’mon, man!

    healthguyfsu in reply to scooterjay. | April 1, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    It’s entirely possible to have this come from a lab and not be a bioweapon.

    Viruses mutate rapidly but inefficently. Many mutations do nothing to make a virus more virulent. Some do but don’t affect humans. Some make them more virulent, affect humans, but die off before they ever make it to a human patient zero for spread through our population. Some make them more virulent, affect humans, make it to a human patient zero, but cause only symptoms we would classify as a “cold or flu bug”.

    Basically, there are a large confluence of factors that can make it take a very long time for a virus to have all of the right opportunities and mutations to cause a pandemic like this.

      Arminius in reply to healthguyfsu. | April 2, 2020 at 2:41 am

      Concur. It could simply be have been the result of legitimate research and the virus escaped, entirely by accident, into the wild.

      Never attribute to malevolence what you can explain by incompetence.

      Voyager in reply to healthguyfsu. | April 2, 2020 at 10:38 am

      Fully agree. Particularly after SARS, China has strong valid reasons for researching the related viruses, how they function and how to defeat them.

      Likewise they also have a strong requirement to conduct it in a safe and effective way. Given China’s long history of government cover ups and general lack of quality control, it looks like they did not do the job required of them at all.

    notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital in reply to scooterjay. | April 1, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    Check out the big bunch of lyin’ Schiff….er…DEM Heads in today’s episode of Beat the Press!

    https://youtu.be/Id6CcTAoFUs

    Milhouse in reply to scooterjay. | April 1, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    Um, the conventional story is completely reasonable and plausible. There’s nothing even slightly improbable about your “The Chinese people have been eating bats for thousands of years, yet this appears out of ‘nowhere’.” That’s how this works. Viruses mutate all the time. The Chinese people have been eating bats for thousands of years, and new viruses have been appearing in China for thousands of years. Where do you think the seasonal flu comes from every year? Where did SARS and avian flu and swine flu and all those things come from? China is a natural breeding ground for new viruses and always has been.

    The question is not whether this story is plausible, but whether there are perhaps other plausible stories. And yes, there are. Not bioweapons, which is still crazy talk, but the sort of thing discussed here could absolutely have happened. As I think it was Jim Treacher pointed out, when you ask about an accident like this, and the answer you get is about bioweapons, it’s suspicious. But it’s less suspicious when there are paranoid people out there going on about bioweapons, so the person you ask just assumes that’s what you’re really asking about, and correctly answers that that’s a crazy place to go on the current evidence.

      Barry in reply to Milhouse. | April 1, 2020 at 8:34 pm

      “Not bioweapons, which is still crazy talk…”

      Crazy talk? Why?

      Are you trying to convince us the Chinese are not working on bioweapons? Are you crazy?

        notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital in reply to Barry. | April 1, 2020 at 8:41 pm

        Next they’ll be telling us that the Kaiser’s troops didn’t use mustard gas………

      Sternverbs in reply to Milhouse. | April 2, 2020 at 6:55 am

      What day of the month does your direct deposit from Soros hit your checking account, comrade?

      Voyager in reply to Milhouse. | April 2, 2020 at 10:42 am

      The bioweapons thing is unlikely, but we have videos of researchers from that lab discussing their horseshoe bat sampling, so it’s reasonable to expect them to still be working on it, especially given its the only lab in the country with the official capacity to do so.

      Given that we’ve got a pretty clear source of it at ground zero, and the alternative source really requires shipping a specific type of bar a rather long way just for a wet market, the argument of simplicity is it got loose from the lab.

    notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital in reply to scooterjay. | April 1, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    Rut Roh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Red China Now Pushing Propaganda Videos

    of “American” “Journalists” Parroting

    the Very Propaganda Red China Fed to Them in the First Place

    http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=386627

    Sonnys Mom in reply to scooterjay. | April 2, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    Not exactly “out of nowhere”. China sends its researchers all over the world. They collect biological samples from wildlife as well as participate in academic research. Some have stolen lab samples and smuggled them back to China.

I originally thought that the virus might have originated from the government bioweapons lab in Wuhan, but more recent research has nearly eliminated that possibility. Researchers studying the whole genome of coronavirus think that it usually resides in bats. In one of the wet markets of Wuhan, it may have transferred directly to a human, or it may have transferred via a civet cat.

In either case, if the Chinese would stop eating exotic wild animals and would close down the wet markets, it would eliminate these kinds of zoonotic transmissions.

    thad_the_man in reply to OldProf2. | April 1, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    Is this just plain ignorant.What I hear of recent research is that the virus was not bioengineered. That does not mean that they were not studying it at the lab and could have let it out.

    Anthrax is not a biengineered disease, but you would not be surprised if an outbreak started from a research lab.

      healthguyfsu in reply to thad_the_man. | April 1, 2020 at 5:56 pm

      This is my line of thinking. However, both avenues are possible.

      Loss of lab containment where the Chinese were studying the bats and/or the virus because of what happened with SARS in the early 2000s (which was also not a bioweapon). That seems like a likely scenario to me.

      However, contamination in food, particularly in someone that was handling the raw meat would be another avenue very possible avenue of infection (and was actually China’s initial claim, so I don’t think it is “plain ignorant”).

      The only ignorant statement would be that it “would eliminate these kinds of zoonotic transmissions” and I’d say that statement is not ignorant, just imprecise. Stopping this transmission opportunity would be a step in the right direction, but it would not eliminate zoonoses.

    alaskabob in reply to OldProf2. | April 1, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    So the wet market was importing that subspecies of bat from 600 miles away? Wuhan lab was manipulating viruses for research. (So was UNC-CHapel Hill until the Obama era ban on such studies.) OK… so maybe is as what you say…. but what do we do with the alternative possibility? The CCP arrested physicians, destroyed evidence and preventing reporting followed by shutting down the area big time. Pretty heads up response for a “novel” virus so quickly. Also, faced with knowingly letting people travel to and from China during this outbreak and aiding working around travel restrictions….this looks to be intentional. With all of this, and facing the potential of World War-V19, would scientists go along with the charade to prevent conflict?

    Milhouse in reply to OldProf2. | April 1, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    I agree with thad and healthguy, who are basically saying the same thing. Let me point out though that the lab and wet market theories are not mutually exclusive. One idea I’ve seen suggested is that bats from the lab that were supposed to have been destroyed ended up at the wet market instead. That is precisely the sort of thing that I would expect to happen in China or any similar country.

    Kepha H in reply to OldProf2. | April 2, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    When I lived in the Far East, I strolled through many a wet market (Taiwan, Thailand, Mainland China) with no ill effect. I’ve eaten many critters in the “anything that turns its back on Heaven” category. In the States, I’ve been around people who ate squirrels, opossums, raccoons, and other game, as well as proximity to people who ate glatt kosher. Yet somehow, these haven’t launched pandemics. I’m more inclined to believe that something came out of a lab by either accident or design.

I have no doubt that the CV came from the Wuhan lab. The only question I have is “Was it released intentionally?” Why would the CCP do that, you might ask? Well, it certainly put an end to the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, didn’t it.

    WestRock in reply to snopercod. | April 1, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    Why? Tariffs? Na!

    iconotastic in reply to snopercod. | April 1, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    IMHO Wuhan escaped from a typically shoddily run Chinese lab into the general populace sometime in November 2019, at which point the virus was quickly transmitted.

    However, I do think that the CCP when faced with this pandemic in their own provinces intentionally ensured that the rest of the world was infected so as to reduce the relative impact on China by damaging the economies of the rest of the world. The lies by the CCP and it’s WHO stooges, sending Chinese from Wuhan to Northern Italy and the US in large numbers, threats against the US to embargo pharmacological precursors, and selling garbage medical equipment while buying quality medical equipment all indicate to me that the CCP is taking advantage of this pandemic.

    buckeyeminuteman in reply to snopercod. | April 2, 2020 at 10:19 am

    The Chicoms also believe their population density is unsustainable. Take out a few hundred thousand of their own is no big loss to them. Taking down the world economy and the protests in Hong Kong are a two-fer in their eyes.

I’m about anti-China as you can get, and I have a hard time believing this particular conspiracy theory.

    healthguyfsu in reply to lwmarti. | April 1, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    I agree with you, but you don’t need to believe a conspiracy theory to observe the facts that this did originate in China and that a totalitarian government will selfishly work in its own interests, even when in direct opposition to the interests of its people or the rest of the world. That’s exactly what happened here without doubt.

    Milhouse in reply to lwmarti. | April 1, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    No conspiracy required. It’s extremely unlikely that this was a bioweapon or that it was deliberately released. That’s Alex Jones territory. But that’s not what this article is discussing. The sort of thing Carlson is talking about, and that was discussed here back in February, is much more plausible.

    What we do know, beyond doubt, is that once the outbreak started the Chinese first tried to cover it up and lie about it.

It could be that an underpaid worker at the lab stole a cage full of bats and sold them next door at the wet market for a few yuan.

Raccoon City? At best, it was an incomplete vaccine, or a knowing or unknowing test subject (e.g. animal), that was released into the wild.

I keep asking the same questions:
– Did they kill all the bats?
– What happened to the Wuhan lab?

I am not saying that it IS a bio-weapon. I am saying that it COULD be a bio-weapon and it is absolutely irresponsible not to fully investigate that angle.
Yes, there are other plausible theories, but this is Communist China we are talking about. Put everything together and the bat soup theory is a children’s tale.
But again, I don’t expect anyone that didn’t suffer through Communism to understand.

    notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital in reply to Exiliado. | April 1, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    You mean maybe even the Attack on Benghazi
    wasn’t caused by an obscure, almost zero views, little online youtube video?????????????????

    Barry in reply to Exiliado. | April 1, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    “But again, I don’t expect anyone that didn’t suffer through Communism to understand.”

    While we didn’t all live directly under communist regimes as you did, we all suffered in some way from the communists.

    I do understand. The idea that it couldn’t be part of bioweapons research is absurd. Anyone pushing that idea is either a paid China propogandist or dumber than a knat.

    iconotastic in reply to Exiliado. | April 1, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    Catapulting corpses infected with plague into besieged cities was a bio weapon even though the Middle Ages had no idea how to create such a weapon.

If the virus came from an animal, there is about a 99.99% certainty that there are more animals infected out there. What is being done about it?
Nothing.
Right?
Bat soup my arse.

    notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital in reply to Exiliado. | April 1, 2020 at 8:33 pm
    Milhouse in reply to Exiliado. | April 1, 2020 at 10:36 pm

    Of course there are infected animals. There are always infected animals. What makes you think there aren’t, and what do you expect them to do about it?

      Arminius in reply to Milhouse. | April 2, 2020 at 3:01 am

      Of course there are infected animals. What you don’t seem to understand is that most of us don’t eat them. At least not raw. It’s entirely because I know there are infected animals I don’t eat mammal sashimi. I also don’t eat Pangolins or Ant Bears.

      OK, maybe you think I’m strange for eating deer or waterfowl. But I cook it really well. You would like it, but ask your rabbi (I figured you for Jewish, in which case I’m wondering why I haven’t been asked over for Passover).

      But what I’m suggesting is that we don’t make each other sick.

      Arminius in reply to Milhouse. | April 2, 2020 at 3:12 am

      When I kill them I can generally tell which ones are infected.

        DaveGinOly in reply to Arminius. | April 2, 2020 at 3:01 pm

        There are humans who are asymptomatic when infected with coronavirus. There are vectors of human diseases who are unaffected by the diseases they carry. You can’t tell they’re infected because the disease does not make them sick or abnormal in any way.

    Sanddog in reply to Exiliado. | April 2, 2020 at 3:28 am

    Bats are a perfect reservoir for viruses. Their immune system is very robust which allows them to knock back the viral load and not be negatively affected which actually encourages mutations and spread to other animals.

OH Deplorable | April 1, 2020 at 9:44 pm

First let me tighten up my tin foil hat, back when Obama was President there was a plan from the United Nations that got aired. Part of it was about de-populating the planet, part of the program to have been implemented by 2030, the other by 2050. It was called Agenda 21, recently it has been aired again, this time with Bill Gates’ name attached to it. Many years back I read a book entitled “The Planned Destruction of America” and viral pandemics were one of the ways described to stop the economy, instill martial law and force all citizens to live under the conditions imposed by these actions. It was said then, and is just as relevant now, when the United States falls, the rest of the planet will follow.

iconotastic | April 1, 2020 at 9:45 pm

“… the Chinese need to take a long, hard look at their approach to bioethics”

HAHAHAHAHAHAH
{gasp, gasp}
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
{wipe eyes, gasp again}

Oh my, that was the best bit of humor I have seen today. Expecting the dirtbags who sent us a 21st century version of smallpox blankets to even care about ethics is right up there with wondering about the weight of unicorn farts.

An interesting video with some good detective work from someone who lived in China for 10 years. I started watching his vlogs when he was still in China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpQFCcSI0pU

    DaveGinOly in reply to LesWC. | April 2, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    View this video and the one I posted (above) to get an all around view of the problem. (The video I posted is about Chinese attitudes towards lab procedures and safety, by someone who has worked with them.)

The Chinese will not even think of taking a long, hard look at their bioethics unless they are strongly “incentivized” to do so by an entire planet aggressively seeking reparations for such gross and willfully blind negligence.

I was betting on the Wuhan Institute of Virology as the source for over a month. And not as a source of biological warfare. I think it was purely an accident. That some research assistant at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was selling lab animals to food vendors. It’s totally against the law. But there’s currently a lab tech from Beijing serving time for selling (believe it or not) approximately a million dollars worth of lab animals to food vendors. Within days of the outbreak the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology issued a directive to all their labs to tighten up and fly right.

Why would they do that if they didn’t suspect themselves? There have been a number of things the Chinese government has done that are nothing if not suspicious. That more than hint of a guilty mind

Wuhan has China’s only BSL-4 lab. That means they can work on the most dangerous pathogens. Within days of the outbreak China dispatched their foremost expert on biological warfare (again, I am NOT saying this is bio warfare just that kind of expertise would be necessary) Major General Chen Wei to Wuhan. Nobody does that if this was a natural epidemic. And this wasn’t her first visit to the Wuhan Institute.

I have my suspicions, and I don’t trust anything coming out of China. And I could be entirely wrong. But who really knows.

    DaveGinOly in reply to Arminius. | April 2, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    I believe the same – this is a natural virus that was being studied in a lab, and it escaped.
    Why would China position such a lab facility in the middle of a city? I believe the answer to that question is because Wuhan isn’t just any city, it’s a city with a wet market. I believe the facility was intentionally placed near a wet market to allow easy access to wild animals (from which to collect specimens) and to provide plausible deniability should anything escape from the lab.

Just checking – has anyone else read both the Xiao article referenced here and “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” by Andersen, et al., Nature Medicine, March 2020?

Having read and understood both, I really don’t see how you can read the Xiao article and get what’s being discussed here. Its little more than wild speculation based on things that are now understood to be false. On the other hand, the Andersen article has lots of facts and science in it.

The two articles come to very different conclusions. And one has been published while the other hasn’t. (The Xiao article was on Research Gate but now it’s gone, but it’s easy to find an archived copy.) I know which one I’m going to believe.

Feel free to downvote this post, but go and read these two articles after you do.

Communists and bats have proven one way or another to be a lethal combination. GET OUT of China America, let them starve like they used to.