Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) weighed in on COVID-19’s origins after a newly released video appears to show bats were being used for research purposes at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
Graham told host Sean Hannity that he smells “a rat when it comes to the bats.” He called for China to be imposed with sanctions until the country’s leadership cooperates with an investigation into the virus’ origins.
“I smell a rat when it comes to the bat,” Graham declared. “So, here’s the deal — how do you find the truth when China won’t cooperate with you? The world has to make China come clean on this, and how do you do that? Impose sanctions until they cooperate with the world as to how the virus was — where it originated, how it was spread. But Tom Cotton, who’s been right about this more than anybody, had legislation that we introduced and passed through the Judiciary Committee last year, allowing an American citizen to take the Chinese Communist Party to court in the United States and sue for damages caused by COVID-19. If you want to get to the truth, haul their ass in the American courtroom and unleash our lawyers on them. That’s what I think we should do.”
Graham questioned why the suggestion the virus leaked from a lab was quickly dismissed as a “right-wing conspiracy.”
“[E]verybody involved on the American side working with the Chinese scientists circled the wagons and dramatically came out against the idea that it was a lab leak. In the February 19 letter by 27 scientists, they said that anybody who suggested it was a lab leak was a right-wing conspiracy nut, particularly Trump,” he outlined. “Now, why did they circle the wagons? Because if it had been a lab leak, they’re implicated because they have a relationship with the lab, and … I think it puts everything they did very much at risk. So, that February 19 letter by 27 scientists in 2020 saying that if you believe it’s a lab leak, you’re a nut tells me everything I need to know. I think they knew it was a lab leak, and they tried to bury it.”
“It’s just like the Russian dossier. Every time they found evidence that the dossier was unreliable, they ignored it. They doubled down because they wanted the outcome. And here’s the outcome the scientists wanted: They wanted to shut down the suggestion that came from the lab that they were tied to. I really believe that. But let’s take the Chinese Communist Party to American court and allow our citizens to get justice in a courtroom,” Graham concluded.
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.