Dr. Rand Paul, the senator from Kentucky, asked Dr. Anthony Fauci point-blank about taxpayer money funding the Wuhan Institute of Virology. You know, the origin of COVID-19.
Paul brought up function research, “which works on making pathogens deadlier or more easily transmissible.” He then “alleged that a U.S. virologist had been working with the Chinese institute on such research and said it was funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).”
Paul asked: “Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?”
FAUCI: “Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in that institute.”PAUL: “Do they fund Dr. Baric?”FAUCI: “We do not fund gain — “PAUL: “Do you fund Dr. Baric’s gain of function research?”FAUCI: “Dr. Baric does not do a gain of function research. And if it is, it’s according to the guidelines and it is being conducted in North Carolina, not —”PAUL: “You do not think inserting a bat virus Spike protein, that he got from the Wuhan Institute, into the SARS virus’s gain of function — “FAUCI: “That is not —”PAUL: “You would be in the minority because at least 200 scientists have signed a statement, from the Cambridge Working Group, saying that it is gain of function.”FAUCI: “Well, it is not. And if you look at the grant and the progress reports, it is not gain of function despite the fact that people tweet that, write about it —”PAUL: “So do you still support sending money to the Wuhan Virology Institute?”FAUCI: “We do not send money now to the Wuhan Virology —”PAUL: “Do you support sending money? We did, under your tutelage, we were sending it through EcoHealth, it was a subagency and a subgrant. Do you support that the money from NIH that was going to the Wuhan Institute?”
Ouch:
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY