The Theory COVID-19 Originated In A Wuhan Lab Creeps Into The GOP Mainstream

China has become a rallying point for Republicans looking to cast blame for the crisis in the U.S., with lawmakers accusing the country where the virus originated of covering up the outbreak in its early days.

But the theory that the virus spread from a lab — and not from wildlife like scientists have claimed — is an explosive allegation that first bubbled up in February among conservative media and right-wing lawmakers, disappeared for a few weeks, and has now resurfaced after Fox News and other outlets reported officials inside the government were investigating the allegations.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has been one of the most vocal proponents of the theory, and penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday laying out his claim, writing,  “While the Chinese government denies the possibility of a lab leak, its actions tell a different story.”

President Trump, without citing evidence, said Friday the U.S. government was looking into the claim and that it made “sense,” and other Republican lawmakers, such as Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have rallied behind the theory in recent days.

The director of the Wuhan lab in question, Yuan Zhiming, denied the allegation in an interview with the state-run China Global Television Network on Saturday and a group of prominent scientists concluded in research published in March that the virus came from wildlife. 

The U.S. government is looking into the claim, along with a range of other theories about the origin of the virus, but Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Mark Milley told CNN last week that the “weight of evidence seems to indicate natural (origin).”