How does all that nonsense and speculation on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” affect real life?
The Wuhan Institute of Virology is an organization at the forefront of coronavirus news. Its location near the origination of the covid-19 pandemic has launched chatter as to whether it unleashed a man-made virus (no way, say scientists) or perhaps allowed one to leak from its premises by accident (no evidence to that effect, though State Department cables warned of safety concerns).
On his April 14 show, Fox News host Tucker Carlson continued his exploration of China’s role in the pandemic by focusing on the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “So the lab in Wuhan was unsafe. That was obvious to Americans visiting there two years ago, and because of the practices there, the Chinese may have unleashed a global pandemic on the rest of us,” said Carlson. “Here’s something remarkable and upsetting: The work in that lab, including its research into disease-carrying bats, was funded in part by you, by U.S. taxpayers through the National Institutes of Health.” Carlson then introduced Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who said, “Yes, I’m against funding Chinese research in our country, but I’m sure against funding it in China. The NIH gives this $3.7 million grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Hold on a minute. In the words of “60 Minutes”: “There never was a $3.7 million grant to the Wuhan lab. But the falsehood spread like a virus, in the White House and, without verification, in the briefing room.” Spread it did, on various websites as well as on social media.
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To be clear: The grant story didn’t break on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Three days earlier, the Mail on Sunday published a story with this finding: “Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday show the Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan — funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.” The White Coat Waste Project, a group that opposes taxpayer funding of experiments on animals, did an “exposé” on the issue.
The funding story wound its way through various media chambers and then onto the hot griddle of one of those Trump-led coronavirus task force briefings. Asked on April 17 why the Obama administration would provide such a grant to China, President Trump showed why he’s such an ideal repository for bogus information: “The Obama administration gave them a grant of $3.7 million? I’ve been hearing about that. And 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 the morning. We will end that grant very quickly.” Bolding added to highlight the U.S. president’s receptivity to rumor.
Actually: The grant went to EcoHealth Alliance for its disease prevention work, according to “60 Minutes.” Referring to Daszak, Pelley reported, “His work was considered so important that, last year, the grant was reauthorized and increased by the Trump administration.” Daszak spent about $100,000 per year working with the Wuhan lab, according to the “60 Minutes” report.
Emma Wojtowicz, a public affairs specialist with the National Institutes of Health, told the Erik Wemple Blog, “The grant was for $3.4 million over 6 years distributed across all sites: the primary awardee, EcoHealth Health Alliance Inc., and sub-awardees, Wuhan Institute of Virology (Wuhan), East China Normal University (Shanghai), the Institute of Pathogen Biology (Beijing), and Duke-NUS Medical School (Singapore).”
Yet after the uproar that the Carlson-Gaetz duo helped to ignite, the Trump administration revoked the grant. “Dishonest and negligent allegations have now ended EcoHealth’s carefully reviewed research designed to stop pandemics,” said Pelley.
The sequence highlighted by “60 Minutes” leaves a fair number of follow-up questions. To Fox News: Does it deem the exchange between Gaetz and Carlson worthy of a correction? To the Mail on Sunday: Any reaction to the debunking on “60 Minutes”? To Gaetz: Has he addressed this matter or made any corrections? His office released this statement: “Following criticism of taxpayer funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Congressman Gaetz spoke with President Trump, Chief of Staff Meadows, and senior leadership at HHS. Portions of the $3.7 million went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is why it took several days following his criticism of the grant for HHS to successfully divorce the money going to the WIV from funds otherwise appropriately spent.”
Still waiting for on-the-record responses from the media organizations. An on-the-record response from Trump, as it happens, is already at hand:
.@CBS and their show, @60Minutes, are doing everything within their power, which is far less today than it was in the past, to defend China and the horrible Virus pandemic that was inflicted on the USA and the rest of the World. I guess they want to do business in China!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2020
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