Watters: Media 'self-owned' themselves admitting lab-leak theory possible
Media coming around to consideration of theory despite dismissing previous claims by Trump, Cotton last year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' "The Five" slammed the media's "purely political" self-reflection on their initial dismissal of the theory that the coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.
Host Jesse Watters noted how the media appeared to "self-own" themselves by admitting just that—that their hatred of former President Donald Trump fueled their refusal to consider the lab leak theory.
"Chuck Todd said [the lab-leak theory] got tangled up in politics and conflated with the idea that the Chinese deliberately released it. Who was the one that tangled it? Who was the one that conflated it? It was the media that did that."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They are not just saying we made a mistake, they are saying we deliberately made a mistake," he continued. "Now in what industry do you just self-own yourself like that and just say that you're bad at your job. And then you think you need a pat on the back by admitting that you screwed up. I mean these people are so self-obsessed that they think they are doing the honorable thing by admitting they made a mistake. "
When the lab-leak theory was first suggested by Republicans including then-President Trump, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., much of the media dismissed the claims as "conspiracy theory" or "fringe." Now that the theory has gained more credibility, reporters are admitting they made a mistake but blame Trump as the reason for their initial skepticism.
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Co-host and former Democratic lawmaker Harold Ford Jr. further pointed to clips of ABC News White House reporter Jonathan Karl and New York Times writer David Leonhardt noting the media and liberals' refusal to believe the lab leak theory because Republicans were promoting it.
Fellow co-host Dagen McDowell said the media went further than simply dismissing the lableak theory because it was "purely political" to prevent Trump from being reelected in the 2020 election.