Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called for accountability from both the United States and China regarding their roles in the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. He alleged that these countries created conditions that allowed the virus to cross species barriers and unleash widespread havoc on the planet.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo, Paul emphasized the need for a decrease in gain-of-function research. He reiterated his claims that the COVID-19 virus originated from a facility in Wuhan, China, through research that was funded by U.S. officials.
In the interview, Paul said, “The blame equally should go not only to Chinese authorities but to Anthony Fauci and all those who advocated for this. Look, Bill Gates has been over there recently. Bill Gates is the largest funder of trying to find these viruses in remote caves and bring them to big cities. What happened in China is they went 8 to 10 hours south of Wuhan, 2 to 300 feet deep into a cave, found viruses, and took them back to a city of 15 million.”
During the interview, Paul, known for his criticism of Dr. Fauci, expanded his criticism to include Gates. While acknowledging that Gates may have good intentions, Paul expressed concerns that Gates could potentially be supporting “the greatest danger to mankind.”
Paul argued, “Many scientists think we don’t need to be searching for viruses that may never interact with man, and it’s worse than that. They bring viruses that we may never interact with. They bring them back to the lab, but then they manipulate them by combining them with other viruses to create viruses that don’t exist in nature. This has largely been funded by Bill Gates, who funds the W.H.O. more than most countries do. So there’s a responsibility there.”
Revisiting his critique of Fauci, Paul asserted that Fauci had a hand in an alleged “elaborate cover-up” surrounding gain-of-function research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The senator also mentioned that this research was purportedly funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
BREAKING: Rand Paul Vows to Block All Biden NIH Nominees Until Gain of Function Docs Released pic.twitter.com/tBQkeQxoMA
— Dillon Fillion (@DillonFillionIA) June 16, 2023
In an effort to halt gain-of-function research, Paul urged an “international consortium of countries” to come together and establish limits on this practice. He cautioned that failing to do so could result in a future pandemic that could be significantly more severe.
Paul said, “There are people estimating that the next time this happens, the next time we have a leak from a lab, that between five and 50% of the population could die from another manmade virus. So this is very, very serious. This is up there with nuclear arms control. This is up there with the danger of nuclear war. But this is much more insidious. It’s harder to trace. But still, millions of people can die from a man-made virus.”
