'Egg on their face': Media backpedals on Wuhan lab leak theory; journalists try to blame Trump
The mainstream media did some major backpedaling this week on the potential origin of the coronavirus. After months of brushing off the possibility that COVID-19 escaped from a laboratory, left-wing journalists now admit that they are taking the Wuhan lab leak theory seriously, even after they said the theory was "debunked" months ago. Backtracking journalists are blaming former President Donald Trump and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) for the media previously dismissing the now-feasible lab leak theory.
"I think a lot of people have egg on their face," ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jon Karl told Martha Raddatz on Sunday. "This was an idea that was first put forward by Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, [and President] Donald Trump, and look, some things may be true even if Donald Trump said them."
"Because Trump was saying so much else that was just out of control, and because he was, you know, making a frankly racist appeal talking about 'kung-flu,' and the 'China virus,' his notion … he said flatly this came from that lab, was widely dismissed … but now serious people are saying it needs a serious inquiry," Karl said on ABC's "This Week."
ABC's Jon Karl on Wuhan lab leak theory: "I think a lot of people have egg on their face….Some things may be true… https://t.co/BHuaHzRGn4
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911)1622403928.0
New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman also tried to blame Trump and Pompeo for the media's failure to take the lab leak theory seriously.
"I think it is important to remember that part of the issue is when this was first being reported on and discussed back a few months after the pandemic had begun, was that then President Trump and Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, suggested they've seen evidence that this was formed in a lab and they also suggested that it was not released on purpose," Haberman said on CNN last week. "But they refused to release the evidence showing what it was and so because of that made this instantly political."
Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake wrote an article titled, "The vexing 'lab leak' theory on China and the coronavirus," which blamed Trump for the media's immediate dismissal of the lab leak theory.
"Given everything we know about how Trump handled such things, caution and skepticism were invited," Blake wrote. "That (very much warranted) caution and skepticism spilled over into some oversimplification, particularly when it came to summarizing the often more circumspect reporting."
Last week, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler posted an article titled, "How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible." The article stated, "The Trump administration's messaging was often accompanied by anti-Chinese rhetoric that made it easier for skeptics to ignore its claims."
However, a year earlier, Kessler told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Twitter, "It is virtually impossible for this virus jump from the lab."
@GlennKesslerWP You should probably revisit this one. https://t.co/QpZu5eNAQT
— Stephen L. Miller (@Stephen L. Miller)1621948199.0
https://www.theblaze.com/news/media-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-trump