Poll: Most Voters Say It Is ‘Likely’ Coronavirus Originated in Chinese Lab, Support an Investigation

Most voters believe it is “likely” the Chinese coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab and support an investigation into the matter, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday found.

The survey, which Rasmussen Reports conducted May 25-26 among 900 likely U.S. voters, asked respondents, “How likely is it that the COVID-19  virus originated in a Chinese laboratory?”

Sixty-eight percent deem the scenario likely. Of those, 43 percent say it is “very” likely and 25 percent say “somewhat’ likely. This opinion, that it is at least somewhat likely that the virus originated in a Chinese lab, is held by a majority of Republicans (82 percent), Democrats (57 percent), and independents (67 percent).

Voters overwhelmingly believe it is “important” for federal authorities to investigate the origins of the Chinese virus, with 53 percent deeming it “very” important, followed by 29 percent who said “somewhat” important, 11 percent who said “not very” important, 4 percent who said “not at all” important, and 3 percent who remain unsure. A majority of both Republicans and Democrats agree that it is at least somewhat important for federal authorities to investigate the matter, 84 percent and 82 percent, respectively.

The survey follows rising skepticisms over the origins of the virus, reignited by a Wall Street Journal report detailing a U.S. intel finding that three Wuhan lab workers became sick and were hospitalized in Fall 2019, exhibiting symptoms consistent with the Chinese coronavirus months before the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) declared a global pandemic.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is among those renewing calls for an investigation:

The common-sense case for a lab leak is the same as it was in January 2020, when I first mentioned the possibility.

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 25, 2021

Three Wuhan lab researchers went to the hospital with COVID symptoms in November 2019—a month before the first confirmed case of the disease.

It’s time for the Chinese Communist Party to come clean about what happened at that lab.https://t.co/7XZrLRCBFH

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 25, 2021

The lab-leak hypothesis was always reasonable, but reporters & activists in white lab coats nonetheless spent the better part of a year denouncing it as a “conspiracy theory.” They were wrong.

But that’s not what’s most important now. What’s important is truth & accountability.

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 25, 2021

The Wuhan Institute of Virology & Wuhan CDC need to open their doors & databases for a full audit of their research—especially dangerous gain-of-function research.

The CCP needs to stop obstructing investigators, destroying evidence, and telling ridiculous lies.

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 25, 2021

If we want closure in the aftermath of this pandemic—and if we want to avert the next one—we must learn about its origin. That means we must look at the lab in Wuhan and the experimental research its scientists performed.https://t.co/id456z7xAs

— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 25, 2021

The Biden White House, however, has warned against jumping to conclusions on the origins of the virus until a full investigation is completed.

“What we can’t do, and what I would caution anyone doing, is leaping ahead of an actual international process,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday. “We don’t have enough data and information to jump to a conclusion at this point in time.