Trump contradicts US intel by claiming he's seen evidence coronavirus originated in Chinese lab

[denem]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump contradicted a rare on-the-record statement from his own intelligence community by claiming Thursday that he has seen evidence that gives him a "high degree of confidence" the novel coronavirus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, but declined to provide details to back up his assertion.

The comments undercut a public statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued just hours earlier which stated no such assessment has been made and continues to "rigorously examine" whether the outbreak "began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan."

"Yes, I have," Trump said when asked whether he's seen evidence that would suggest the virus originated in the lab. Later, asked why he was confident in that assessment, Trump demurred.

"I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that," he said.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/30/politics/trump-intelligence-community-china-coronavirus-origins/index.html

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. tRump's "evidence" is murky shit from hard RW sources that is all confirmation bias and correlation

Correlation is not causation.

It goes like: "Well, Wuhan had a lab. So it must have come from the lab." They don't see this as an illogical leap. They think it is solid reasoning.

They go on in more detail, but it is all crap not worth regurgitating here.

[TomCADem]

22. Secret Agent Sean Hannity and Rudy Giuliani are on the case!

nt

[diverdownjt]

37. He's an avid Alex Jones fan...

If Alex says it...it must be true.

[Botany]

2. When asked how he knew Trump said, "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."

The man lies about everything and should be taken out in handcuffs tomorrow.

[dhol82]

6. Handcuffs? How about that shirt with no arms?

[oldsoftie]

20. HA!!!

[SergeStorms]

19. Where he gets all of his "solid intel"....

from his buddy Vlad. They have been talking on the phone a lot lately. That's probably why he finally accepted the fact that he's losing to Joe Biden. Vlad told him that it's beyond the capability of Russia to throw the election his way. Now that got his attention!

[Haggis for Breakfast]

21. Vlad was being facetious.

If you're looking into biological warfare -- LOOK to RUSSIA.

Over a 20 year period that began, ironically, with the 1972 passage of The Biological Weapons Convention - which was endorsed by the USSR - the Soviet Union began to build the largest and most advanced biological warfare establishment in the world: smallpox, anthrax, Ebola-related strains of hemhorragic viruses. Biologists, chemists, and other scientists re-engineered hazardous microbes to make them even more virulent. They even experimented with the AIDS virus to make it into the ultimate bioweapon. In short, biologic weapons that will exceed anything the hydrogen nuclear bombs could ever do.

The best read available is "Biohazard," written by Ken Alibek in 1999, published by Random House. This is NOT a work of fanciful fiction. It is told by the man who ran the program inside the Soviet labs and later defected. It was his belief that these weapons would be used on the US and other western powers. The unparalleled devastation from the usage of even one such weapon would create the worst case scenario ever imagined.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. What's evidence to Trump wouldn't convince a guppy

Someone is playing him for his stupidity because they want to use his power

[dhol82]

4. Wonder if his evidence was drawn in sharpie?

[dhol82]

5. Now I'm wondering if Jared is that manipulative?

Nah, he’s a way too stupid.
Now I have to go find a whole new conspiracy theory. Damn!

[maxsolomon]

7. NEVER ANY DETAILS.

Just toss out a generalized accusation, then never provide backup, never follow up. Bully anyone who'd challenge him.

He's done it his whole life. He always gets away with it because he has killed language.

[TeamPooka]

8. He's the President. He's allowed to tell us anything. He can declassify anything.

he acts like he has a boss.
Oh wait he does in Putin.
So Putin must not be allowing him to say.

[tulipsandroses]

9. Hmm, Hmm - Who told him? The same people that told him Pres Obama was born in Kenya?

And another thing, His loose lips are dangerous for our national security. Just suppose these allegations are true - The DNI is still mum on the subject, why is he blabbing his mouth about it?

[alittlelark]

10. LIAR

[Efilroft Sul]

11. Now which portrait in the White House put that thought in his head? Thinking, thinking. Nixooooooon!

[soryang]

12. The collection of corona viruses from bats by Shi Zhengli was supported by US institutions

...Zhengli said initially she was so concerned it came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, she had trouble sleeping until she ruled it out by sending lab samples she had collected there to another unnamed lab for comparison.

The forensic evidence hasn't been public for examination by unbiased sources as far as i can tell.

If it's true as Newsweek maintains in their recent article that US public health institutions government and private supported the research at the lab, blame for any accident that may have released the virus cuts both ways.

Newsweek claimed many scientists had warned the US government of the dangers of the research effort at Wuhan, and also there is the Washington Post article recently concerning state department cables that warned of unsafe conditions at the lab.

So when they say no evidence they mean no scientific proof, which is a different standard than the circumstantial evidence that raises a reasonable suspicion it might be the case.

Even Peter Dascak who was involved with Zhengli's efforts admitted in the Democracy Now interview, there is no "absolute proof" it didn't escape from the Wuhan Institute. In effect he was relying on scientific probabilities or likelihood that the origin was natural. Which was an odd thing to say, because Shi said she had ruled out the lab as origin, but her statement is thus far hearsay. Both are not exactly unbiased witnesses.

[Ghost Dog]

35. Yes. Supporting information for Newsweek Article here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016252103&ved=2ahUKEwia9b7GpZLpAhUP1hoKHTr9An0QFjAAegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw3jbhGBXe-fngGdt6YypotI&cf=1

.

.. This is no nefarious secret program in an underground military bunker. The Wuhan lab received funding, mostly for virus discovery, in part from a ten-year, $200 million international program called PREDICT, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and other countries. Similar work, funded in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has been carried out in dozens of labs throughout the world. Some of this research involves taking deadly viruses and enhancing their ability to spread quickly through a population—research that took place over the objections of hundreds of scientists, who have warned for years of the program's potential to cause a pandemic....

: https://www.newsweek.com/controversial-wuhan-lab-experiments-that-may-have-started-coronavirus-pandemic-1500503

[roamer65]

13. We will never know the exact point in time of zoonotic transfer.

[thenelm1]

14. Government based on whacko conspiracy theories...

Yeah, that's the ticket. What could possibly go wrong?

Complete buffoonery in plain sight....keep yapping numbnuts.

[DrToast]

23. The idea it leaked from the lab is not crazy

Trump is just likely lying that he knows that’s what happened.

But it’s completely possible. Nobody is claiming the virus is manmade.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. "Nobody is claiming the virus is manmade" is inaccurate; some wingnuts are

though Trump himself hasn't said that in public yet.

For instance, Alan Sugar - the man who played the Donald Trump part in the British version of The Apprentice, though he's not far right (he briefly worked in the last Labour government) - tweeted out some shit:

Claim
Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo, caused a sensation today in the media by saying that the corona virus is not natural.

Conclusion
Incorrect. Professor Honjo has denied saying this and there is no evidence that he ever did.

Various posts on Facebook claim that the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Professor Tasuku Honjo has said that coronavirus is “not natural”. The claim was also shared on Twitter, including by Lord Sugar.

We’ve also been asked to check this by lots of readers.

This claim is false.

Professor Honjo released a statement on 27 April saying: “In the wake of the pain, economic loss, and unprecedented global suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am greatly saddened that my name and that of Kyoto University have been used to spread false accusations and misinformation.”

https://fullfact.org/online/tasuku-honjo-coronavirus/

From the end of January:

Another baseless claim that has gone viral online suggests the virus was part of China's "covert biological weapons programme" and may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Many accounts pushing the theory cite two widely-shared Washington Times articles both of which quote a former Israeli military intelligence officer for the claim.

However, no evidence is provided for the claim in the two articles, and the Israeli source is quoted as saying that "so far there isn't evidence or indication" to suggest there was a leak.

The two articles have so far been posted to hundreds of different social accounts to a potential audience of millions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-51271037

There's a reason that scientists and intelligence agencies have been putting out articles explaining that it's not manmade; because some idiots have been saying it is.

[DrToast]

38. I meant in this article/instance

Trump is not claiming that here. Yes, there are some conspiracy theories out there.

[kimbutgar]

15. Come on! Putin assured him that it originated in China !

[Sloumeau]

16. Trump is once again pulling lies out of his butt. :) nt

[samsingh]

17. just like he knows more than the admirals and generals and covid would disappear by april

[Xipe Totec]

18. Few people know how much evidence US intel has that the virus was created in a Chinese Lab.

Those who do know, know that there is ZERO evidence that the virus was created in a Chinese Lab.

[DrToast]

24. Trump isn't saying it's manmade

He’s saying it escaped from the lab.

[NellieStarbuck]

27. Wearing a wig and driving a blue Nova.

[Xipe Totec]

41. Trump says a lot of things

[captain queeg]

25. He found that info in his ass when he was inserting a light bulb

[NellieStarbuck]

26. Yeah, if he tells you, he'll have to kill you.

[scarletwoman]

28. The whole thing about "I can't tell you" is just him preening - trying to make himself sound

super important.

It's just more of his usual narcissistic bullshit.

[mahina]

29. Intelligence agencies, if you're listening...

[AtheistCrusader]

30. Lies like a dog. The President has sole and ultimate carte blanche to declassify any fucking thing

the president wants. There's nothing whatsoever that 'he's not allowed to tell'. Even if it was intelligence sharing from a non-US intelligence agency, he can still share it, it just might burn the professional relationship.

But he's a fucking liar, and he's pinning all his hopes of not being held to account for his failings, on smearing china.

[pecosbob]

31. Revealing the existence of secret material is in itself a security violation

[mahatmakanejeeves]

33. From remarks he made before noon, in a meeting with NJ governor Phil Murphy:

Remarks by Trump in a Meeting with Governor Murphy of New Jersey

REMARKS

Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with Governor Murphy of New Jersey

HEALTHCARE

Issued on: April 30, 2020

Oval Office
11:30 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. It’s an honor to be with Governor Phil Murphy of a wonderful state known as New Jersey. I spent a lot of time in New Jersey. It’s a beautiful state. People don’t realize how dense it is, right?

{snip}

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, Jeff go.

Q Thank you, sir. The intelligence agencies today said that they agree with the scientific community, that the virus did originate in China but was not manmade and was not genetically modified. Do you agree with that assessment?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I haven’t seen the report yet, but I will tell you, if you speak to the head of intelligence right now, you speak to the head, they did say that I was given a briefing when I said I was given it, not before. And they also said that it wasn’t specific and it was not a panic briefing. It wasn’t like, “Oh, we’re going to be invaded.” It was in January, later January —

Q You were getting a briefing in January?

THE PRESIDENT: And I think — I think what you’ll do is you’ll speak to them. In fact, I’ll ask Mark to make a report to you because the — the news was totally — you know, as usual, fake and corrupt.

So intelligence is doing a report, and the report turned out to be exactly as I said.

Q So, Mr. President, so you’re saying that you got a briefing in January about the —

THE PRESIDENT: No, I’m not saying it. No, no. I’m not.

Q — about the coronavirus.

THE PRESIDENT: You didn’t hear me. I said intelligence are saying it. And they’re going to give a report —

Q Okay.

THE PRESIDENT: — and it will make you very unhappy because it makes you so wrong.

Q Well —

THE PRESIDENT: You, in particular.

{snip}

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, with that, thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jim.

END 11:52 A.M. EDT

[Ghost Dog]

34. Does stovepiped confrontation with China help his chances in November?

... It certainly is unusual, and reflects the politically charged nature of the topic as the Trump administration tries hard to deflect attention from its own performance during the pandemic,” said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA officer who has been critical of the administration. “The statement appears to be a compromise that makes the IC [intelligence community] appear to be working objectively without pouring cold water on the White House's favorite rhetorical line about Chinese malfeasance,” said Pillar, now with Georgetown University.

Others, however, see the statement as a smart move, given the onslaught of disinformation that has surrounded the pandemic.

“[It’s] doubtful that this was spin or US disinformation,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff and former senior director of the White House Situation Room, who like Pillar has been critical of the White House’s handling of intelligence matters. “I give the ODNI credit for stepping up to the plate to add some clarity to the situation.”

The statement may also portend a greater public role for U.S. intelligence agencies going forward. “These are trying times,” said Daniel Hoffman, a retired senior CIA officer. “There’s a lot of disinformation, misinformation and ignorance.”...

https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/trump-contradicts-us-intelligence-says-covid-19-came-chinese-lab

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement on Thursday saying the U.S. intelligence community "concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,"...

Earlier in the day, the New York Times reported that Trump administration officials, led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have pushed U.S. spy agencies to find evidence linking the coronavirus with the Wuhan lab...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/04/30/trump-claims-to-have-seen-evidence-linking-coronavirus-to-wuhan-lab-after-intelligence-chief-says-virus-not-manmade/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his hard-fought trade deal with China was now of secondary importance to the coronavirus pandemic and he threatened new tariffs on Beijing, as his administration crafted retaliatory measures over the outbreak...

Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a range of options against China were under discussion, but cautioned that efforts were in the early stages. Recommendations have not yet reached the level of Trump's top national security team or the president, one official told Reuters.

"There is a discussion as to how hard to hit China and how to calibrate it properly," one of the sources said as Washington walks a tightrope in its ties with Beijing while it imports personal protection equipment (PPE) from there and is wary of harming a sensitive trade deal.

Trump made clear, however, that his concerns about China's role in the origin and spread of the coronavirus were taking priority for now over his efforts to build on an initial trade agreement with Beijing that long dominated his dealings with the world's second-largest economy...

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-china/trump-threatens-new-tariffs-on-china-in-retaliation-for-coronavirus-idUKKBN22C3DS

[raccoon]

36. A pathological liar. Nt

[pampango]

39. You can't tell us because 'intelligence' is secret or because the intelligence community says you're

lying? I think we know the answer. "Have I seen evidence? Yes. Here is a link to Alex Jones."

[zanana1]

40. His supporters will eat this up.