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

[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.