Washington DC: US President Donald Trump’s White House has launched a new COVID-19 website, as part of a broader effort to revisit the pandemic’s handling.
The website blames the origin of the coronavirus on a laboratory leak in China and delivers pointed criticism at Democratic former President Joe Biden, former top US health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The site also expresses opposition to key public health policies implemented during the pandemic, denouncing measures such as social distancing, mask mandates, and lockdowns.
Trump, who took office in January, initiated a 12-month process to withdraw the United States from the WHO, which had been the agency’s largest financial contributor at the time.
The website comes during broader narratives from Trump and his allies seeking to reshape public perception of pandemic management under previous administrations.
Soon after assuming office, Trump withdrew US government security protection for Dr. Fauci, who had led the country’s COVID-19 response and faced threats due to his high-profile role. Trump also publicly suggested that Fauci should hire his private security.
In January, a CIA spokesperson stated that the agency’s assessment concluded COVID-19 likely emerged from a laboratory, rather than through natural origins. However, the CIA emphasized that this assessment was made with ‘low confidence,’ and that both theories, lab leak and natural origin, remain plausible.
Meanwhile, China’s government continues to assert that it is participating in international research into the virus’s origins, while accusing Washington of politicizing the issue, particularly through the use of intelligence agencies to lead the investigations.
Beijing has firmly rejected the lab-leak theory, stating there is no credible evidence supporting the claim that a laboratory accident triggered the global pandemic.
As of now, Biden, Fauci, and the WHO have not responded publicly to the website or the allegations made therein.
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