‘Look at the Facts!’ Fauci Stuns Jim Jordan by Saying He Always Kept An Open Mind on the Lab Leak Theory

Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before Congress on Monday that he kept an open mind on the true origins of the virus that caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) tried his best to nail him on trying to dismiss the theory that the virus was the result of a lab leak.

In the early months of the pandemic in 2020, Fauci expressed that he was not convinced that the Covid-19 virus was spread as a the result of a lab leak, pointing to scientific evidence at the time. In May 2020, he told National Geographic :

If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what’s out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated … Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species.

Then in March 2021, Fauci acknowledged to CNN the belief by former CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield that the virus originated in a lab and “escaped” as one of “a number of theories,” adding that “he was giving an opinion as to a possibility, but again, there are other alternatives – others, that most people hold by.”

In a testy exchange with Jordan, Fauci testified that he “kept an open mind” as to the origins of the virus:

Jordan: Did U.S. tax dollars flow through a grant recipient to the lab in China?

Fauci: I’m sorry, what was…?

Jordan: Did U.S. tax dollars flow through a grant recipient to the lab in China?

Fauci: Yes, of course. It was a sub-award to the Wuhan Institute —

Jordan: And who approved that award?

Fauci: Excuse me?

Jordan: Who approved that award? What agency approved that award?

Fauci: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Jordan: Your agency approved that, right?

Fauci: Yes, it did after —

Jordan: Does that have anything to do with this downplaying the lab leak theory?

Fauci: No!

Jordan: Nothing to do with it.

Fauci: Nothing.

Jordan: What do you do? You agree that there was a push to downplay the lab leak theory?

Fauci: Not on my part.

Jordan: Really?

Fauci: Really!

Jordan: Wow!

Fauci: Wow.

Jordan: Well, I think most of the country would find that. I find that amazing. I still got 11 seconds.

Fauci: Look at the facts. I’ve kept an open mind throughout the entire process.

Jordan: All right. I yield back.

Watch the video above via Fox News.