Republicans stepped up their attacks on the government's most senior infectious diseases expert Thursday saying Dr. Anthony Fauci should be fired after defending $600,000 in funding for a Chinese laboratory under scrutiny for its role in the emergence of COVID-19.
Critics say he has offered the wrong advice throughout the pandemic and was too quick to dismiss the idea that the novel coronavirus could have escaped from a laboratory.
A day earlier, President Joe Biden ordered the intelligence community to step up investigations into COVID-19's origins.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a member of the House China task force, said it was time for Fauci to go.
'He's either grossly incompetent or he's been lying to the American people the entire time,' he told Fox News.
Dr. Anthony Fauci's changing advice during the pandemic has made him a favorite target of Republicans. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a member of the House China task force, said: 'He's either grossly incompetent or he's been lying to the American people the entire time'
Reschenthaler attacked Fauci for his shifting stance. 'Early on back in January, he said America has nothing to worry about regarding this virus,' he said. 'He then criticized President Trump for the travel ban from China and then he said that decision by President Trump actually saved lives'
Fauci's advice has changed during the past year as scientists developed their understanding of COVID-19.
At first they thought it would follow the same pattern as other coronaviruses, such as Sars or Mers, with outbreaks subsiding over time.
Fauci, like other infectious diseases experts, played down the initial threat. And he echoed the advice of the World Health Organization and other scientists by saying masks were not effective in preventing its spread and arguing against travel bans.
Critics such as Reschenthaler claim Fauci lied.
'Early on back in January, he said America has nothing to worry about regarding this virus,' he said.
'He then criticized President Trump for the travel ban from China and then he said that decision by President Trump actually saved lives.
'He blatantly lied to Congress about masks and the American people saying they don’t help and then he said, oh no, I was lying so we could hoard PPE.
'He's been wrong this entire time.'
Three members of staff Wuhan Institute of Virology were reported to have sought medical help for COVID-like symptoms in November 2019, adding to growing speculation that the virus escaped from the facility triggered a pandemic
Criticism increased this week with a new report that three staff members at the Wuhan Institute of Virology sought medical care after developing COVID-like symptoms in November 2019.
It has led to fresh scrutiny of the origins of a pandemic that has killed more than three million people.
On Wednesday, Fauci said the most likely hypothesis was that the disease emerged naturally from an animal host.
But he said no-one could know for sure.
"And since there's a lot of concern, a lot of speculation and since no one absolutely knows that, I believe we do need the kind of investigation where there's open transparency and all the information that's available, to be made available, to scrutinize," he said duing a Senate hearing.
His opponents see it as another example of flip flopping, accusing him of too easily dismissing the idea of a laboratory leak.
'When Tom Cotton and myself were saying that this virus probably originated in a lab in Wuhan - the lab where they were doing gain-of-function research on zoonotic bat-borne diseases - he was the one saying that it was a conspiracy theory,' said Reschenthaler.
'He was the one pushing the real conspiracy theory that this virus originated in nature.'
A fringe theory suggests that experimenters in China were using American taxpayers' money to collect coronaviruses from bats and manipulating them in laboratories.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health, where Fauci is a senior figure, had given the Wuhan lab a $600,000 grant to do studies.
During his Senate evidence, Fauci said the money was not give for 'gain of function' work.
'We have seen the results of the research that were done and that were published. And the studies are public, and on public databases now,' he said
'None of that was gain of function.'
Scientists say COVID-19's genetic sequence shows no sign of artificial manipulation.
President Biden said the inability of CDC inspectors to access key sites in China hampered early investigations as he asked the intelligence community to redouble efforts in investigating how COVID-19 emerged
But in recent weeks a growing number have said they may have been too quick to write off the idea that the virus could have escaped from a laboratory by accident.
President Biden said intelligence agencies were divided on the two possible scenarios: laboratory leak or natural transfer in the wild.
'I have now asked the intelligence community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days,' he said.
'As part of that report, I have asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China.'
On Thursday he promised to release the report.
'Yes, unless there's something I'm unaware of,' he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for a trip to Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday.
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