The White House is now “heavily considering” a new conspiracy theory that China purposely created COVID-19 in a lab to begin a biological war.
Defense One editor Kevin Baron sat down with Defense Secretary Gen. Mark Milley for a Q&A on Tuesday where the Trump administration official claimed that the DOD has looked into it.
“We’ve had a lot of intelligence take a hard look at that,” he said. “It’s inconclusive, although the weight of evidence leans towards natural. But, we don’t know for certain.”
New York Times White House reporter Maggie Haberman noted that the conspiracy theory has been circulating among the Trump administration.
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“Those rumors are being considered heavily within the White House, and in part, officials say, because there are gaps in the information from China,” Haberman tweeted.
Those rumors are being considered heavily within the White House, and in part, officials say, because there are gaps in the information from China https://t.co/ZbGVJwX0lx
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 14, 2020
Baron noted that Gen. Milley’s comments will likely “fuel a lifetime of additional conspiracy theories and speculation.”
He said they’ve looked “Hard” and “the weight of evidence leans towards natural.”
Those words are going to fuel a lifetime of additional conspiracy theories and speculation. But the tone of his voice was pretty dismissive of the idea, and he stressed that they've looked hard. "Hard." And "the weight of evidence leans towards natural."
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) April 14, 2020
