Rand Paul calls for 'international consortium of countries' to cut gain-of-function research: 'Very serious'
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., responds to reports that Wuhan scientists were the first people to contract COVID-19 and weighs in on ways to slash gain-of-function research.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, R., called for accountability on both the U.S. and China's parts in wreaking havoc on the world by allegedly fostering an environment for the COVID-19 virus to jump species and spread across the world.
During an exclusive "Sunday Morning Futures' interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, Paul called for slashing gain-of-function research and continued his allegations that the COVID-19 virus originated in a Wuhan, China lab via research funded by U.S. officials.
"The blame equally should go not only to Chinese authorities, but to Anthony Fauci and all those who advocated for this," he said. "Look, Bill Gates has been over there recently. Bill Gates is the largest funder of trying to find these viruses in remote caves and bring them to big cities. What happened in China is they went 8 to 10 hours south of Wuhan, 2 to 300 feet deep into a cave, found viruses and took them back to a city of 15 million."
RAND PAUL WARNS DR. FAUCI WAS PART OF ‘ELABORATE COVER-UP’ OF COVID ORIGIN, VOWS TO GET THE TRUTH
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 20, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)
The Kentucky senator, who has openly challenged former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, broadened his criticism to Gates during Sunday's segment, saying, though he might be "well-intended," he could have his hands in funding "the biggest danger to mankind."
"[Many scientists think] we don't need to be searching for viruses that may never interact with man, and it's worse than that," Paul added. "They bring viruses that we may never interact with. They bring them back to the lab, but then they manipulate them by combining them with other viruses to create viruses that don't exist in nature."
"This has largely been funded by Bill Gates, who funds the W.H.O. more than most countries do. So there's a responsibility there," he added.
SEN. RAND PAUL TAKES AIM AT DR. FAUCI IN NEW BOOK FOCUSED ON COVID-19 ‘COVER-UP’
Bill Gates meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Sen. Rand Paul alleged Sunday that Bill Gates contributes heavily to gain-of-function research similar to that performed in a Wuhan, China lab. ((Yin Bogu/Xinhua via AP))
Circling back to Fauci, he repeated accusations that he played a role in an "elaborate cover-up" involving gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology allegedly funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"He knew from the very beginning not only was he funding the Wuhan research, but he was going around the regulatory apparatus to let it happen, even though the rules said it shouldn't have happened without more scrutiny," he said, adding after a moment, "This is a man, Anthony Fauci, who said in 2012 that this kind of research to create new viruses was so important that even if a pandemic should take place, that it'd be worth the knowledge. I think there's several million people, particularly a million Americans, who would question whether that was good judgment or not."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies to a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies hearing, about the budget request for the National Institutes of Health, Wednesday, May 11, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
To curb gain-of-function research, Paul called for an "international consortium of countries" to agree to restrict the practice, warning that, if they fail to take action, the outcome of the next pandemic could be even more disastrous.
"There are people estimating that the next time this happens, the next time we have a leak from a lab, that between five and 50% of the population could die from another manmade virus. So this is very, very serious," he said. "This is up there with nuclear arms control. This is up there with the danger of nuclear war. But this is much more insidious. It's harder to trace. But still, millions of people can die from a manmade virus."
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