A TIPP poll carried out by the Center for Security Policy discovered that nearly two-thirds of Americans want China to pay reparations for the coronavirus pandemic.
QUICK FACTS:
- Senior Analyst for the Center for Security Policy Michael Waller reported the poll showing “the American people are taking an increasingly hard line toward the Chinese regime” when it comes to the coronavirus.
- He said that, if the virus is proven to have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, almost two-thirds of Americans believe that “the Chinese regime should pay reparations for the destruction caused by the human coronavirus pandemic.”
- That number “rises from 63% to 78% if investigations reveal that the Chinese government released the SARS-CoV-19 human coronavirus on purpose,” Waller added.
- In sum, the poll found that 49% of Americans support the notion that the virus “was developed in a lab.”
- The Center’s results “coincide with the numbers of a new Politico-Harvard poll, which shows that 52% of the public believes that the virus that causes COVID-19 came from a ‘laboratory leak in China.'”
HOW REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS DIFFER:
- 71% of Republicans want China to pay reparations for an “accidental” leak, 61% of Democrats agreeing.
- On the other hand, 88% of Republicans want reparations for an “intentional” release, 73% of Democrats agreeing.
BACKGROUND:
- President Donald Trump has claimed since as far back as April 2020 that he’s seen evidence leading him to believe with a “high degree of confidence” that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab in Wuhan.
- Media outlets called the Wuhan lab leak theory a “debunked” and “unfounded” conspiracy.
- But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) kept pressure on Dr. Anthony Fauci—head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)—over alleged U.S. funding of the Chinese lab involving so-called “gain of function” research. After this, Dr. Fauci too admitted in May 2021 that COVID could have come from Wuhan.
- Now, according to The Wall Street Journal, a report on the origins of Covid-19 by a U.S. government national laboratory concluded that the hypothesis claiming the virus leaked from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is not only “plausible” but “deserves further investigation, according to people familiar with the classified document.”
- Dr. David Asher—Donald Trump’s former lead investigator into the origins of Covid-19—said in recent days that a “huge” cash reward should be offered as an incentive to expose the Wuhan lab leak theory, even to encourage Wuhan scientists to break ranks and come forward with information. Dr. Asher, who worked for former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, said that “while China kept a tight grip in its people a cash incentive may be the way to unlock some crucial information,” according to News.com.au.
