At White House presser tonight, a reporter asked Trump about Wuhan Institute of Virology BL-4 lab that some suspect is linked to outbreak origin. She said there's a "report that the NIH under the Obama administration in 2015 gave that lab $3.7 million." Let me try to unravel.
Trump's reply part 1: "I've been hearing about that. We've instructed that if any grants are going to that area, we're looking at it literally about an hour ago and also early in morning, we will end that grant very quickly. But it was granted quite a while ago."
Trump's reply part 2: "...Who was president then, I wonder?"
As far as I can determine, it's based on this grant that went to the EcoHealth Alliance in New York. EcoHealth collaborates with Shi Zhengli from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
UNDERSTANDING THE RISK OF BAT CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCE
Award Number: R01AI110964
UNDERSTANDING THE RISK OF BAT CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCE
Award Number: R01AI110964
The grant was awarded from 2014-2019. It is not from 2015.
This is an R01 grant, which means it's initiated by investigators and peer reviewed. R01s are not given by presidents. If you want to tag it to Obama, you also must tag it to Trump--which is equally wrong.
This is an R01 grant, which means it's initiated by investigators and peer reviewed. R01s are not given by presidents. If you want to tag it to Obama, you also must tag it to Trump--which is equally wrong.
There is, as far as I can tell, nothing for Trump to "end." The grant ended in 2019.
Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tucker Carlson also repeats this, asserting, with zero evidence, that they "birthed a monster virus onto the world." He further says, "This is an active grant."
Is it? The one I've cited earlier that ended in 2019 totaled $3.7M.
video.foxnews.com/v/614944467000…
Is it? The one I've cited earlier that ended in 2019 totaled $3.7M.
video.foxnews.com/v/614944467000…
*BSL-4
