Drummond
04-30-2020, 07:25 PM
We've got a breaking news story over here, saying that President Trump is claiming that the Covid-19 virus came from a laboratory in Wuhan.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-says-seen-evidence-coronavirus-213100106.html
Donald Trump claimed on Thursday he has seen evidence that the coronavirus originated from a medical laboratory in the Wuhan province in China, and threatened to slap new tariffs on the Asian economic power.
The president this week has ramped up his criticism of Beijing after spending several weeks only suggesting Chinese leaders knew the novel virus had gone public in their country. He also on Thursday questioned why China allowed people to leave and travel around the globe when they knew some likely had contracted Covid-19.
During an event on seniors that turned into a press conference, the president was asked: "Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus?"
He replied: "Yes, I have. And I think the WHO (World Health Organisation) should be ashamed of themselves."
Asked if he is suggesting China intentionally allowed the virus to spread, which could be considered a hostile act, Mr Trump would not rule out that he is close to such a conclusion.
"We're going to see where it is. We're going to see where it comes from," he said.
Some former intelligence officials instantly pushed back.
"Whether the virus originated in a market or accidentally escaped a lab would have had no bearing on the warnings Trump received – and ignored – nor on the preparatory steps he chose not to take," Ned Price, a former CIA and Obama White House official, tweeted as Mr Trump was still speaking in the East Room. "This is all about manipulating intelligence for political ends."
The Trump administration has launched an intelligence community probe seeking information on what Chinese officials knew and when – and what the World Health Organisation knew. His administration also wants to know if both entities covered up what they did know.
Asked directly if he has seen evidence that the virus originated at a virology clinic in Wuhan, the president replied: "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."
That's the UK's Independent newspaper's version of this.
I was listening to LBC News around 45 minutes ago, as I type. The story broke then.
The presenter at that time was Tom Swarbrick. The way it was presented then, was to say that President Trump had alleged that there was reason to think that a Wuhan lab had released the virus.
The report went on to say that Trump gave nothing to back up his charge.
Swarbrick then commented freely .. calling it a 'completely ridiculous story'.
He went on to interview, by telephone, an American official, whose name I didn't catch. Swarbrick clearly tried to lead the interviewee into giving the opinion that Trump was talking rubbish. Unfortunately, he failed to get the response he wanted out of him.
So, up to this point, that's where my understanding of this story ends. Trump making his assertion: our media people trying, instantly, to discredit Trump for doing so.
An interesting aside: simultaneous to this, the BBC's 'Hardtalk' interview programme was being screened on BBC News. They were putting out the second or third screening of an interview held with China's Ambassador to London.
In it, the Ambassador went so far as to deny that Covid-19 ever originated in China.
He calls China 'a victim' of the virus, and although he acknowledged that there was a clear outbreak in Wuhan, no evidence pointed to its originating there. As I recall, the claim was made that it could've been flown into China from foreign aircraft, possibly freight transport.
This is already on YouTube !! So, hopefully, this recording will play here for an American audience.
See what you think !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNv75d0lyGg
I know what I think: it's an outrage, saying volumes for China's moral bankruptcy and its complete arrogance.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/trump-says-seen-evidence-coronavirus-213100106.html
Donald Trump claimed on Thursday he has seen evidence that the coronavirus originated from a medical laboratory in the Wuhan province in China, and threatened to slap new tariffs on the Asian economic power.
The president this week has ramped up his criticism of Beijing after spending several weeks only suggesting Chinese leaders knew the novel virus had gone public in their country. He also on Thursday questioned why China allowed people to leave and travel around the globe when they knew some likely had contracted Covid-19.
During an event on seniors that turned into a press conference, the president was asked: "Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus?"
He replied: "Yes, I have. And I think the WHO (World Health Organisation) should be ashamed of themselves."
Asked if he is suggesting China intentionally allowed the virus to spread, which could be considered a hostile act, Mr Trump would not rule out that he is close to such a conclusion.
"We're going to see where it is. We're going to see where it comes from," he said.
Some former intelligence officials instantly pushed back.
"Whether the virus originated in a market or accidentally escaped a lab would have had no bearing on the warnings Trump received – and ignored – nor on the preparatory steps he chose not to take," Ned Price, a former CIA and Obama White House official, tweeted as Mr Trump was still speaking in the East Room. "This is all about manipulating intelligence for political ends."
The Trump administration has launched an intelligence community probe seeking information on what Chinese officials knew and when – and what the World Health Organisation knew. His administration also wants to know if both entities covered up what they did know.
Asked directly if he has seen evidence that the virus originated at a virology clinic in Wuhan, the president replied: "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."
That's the UK's Independent newspaper's version of this.
I was listening to LBC News around 45 minutes ago, as I type. The story broke then.
The presenter at that time was Tom Swarbrick. The way it was presented then, was to say that President Trump had alleged that there was reason to think that a Wuhan lab had released the virus.
The report went on to say that Trump gave nothing to back up his charge.
Swarbrick then commented freely .. calling it a 'completely ridiculous story'.
He went on to interview, by telephone, an American official, whose name I didn't catch. Swarbrick clearly tried to lead the interviewee into giving the opinion that Trump was talking rubbish. Unfortunately, he failed to get the response he wanted out of him.
So, up to this point, that's where my understanding of this story ends. Trump making his assertion: our media people trying, instantly, to discredit Trump for doing so.
An interesting aside: simultaneous to this, the BBC's 'Hardtalk' interview programme was being screened on BBC News. They were putting out the second or third screening of an interview held with China's Ambassador to London.
In it, the Ambassador went so far as to deny that Covid-19 ever originated in China.
He calls China 'a victim' of the virus, and although he acknowledged that there was a clear outbreak in Wuhan, no evidence pointed to its originating there. As I recall, the claim was made that it could've been flown into China from foreign aircraft, possibly freight transport.
This is already on YouTube !! So, hopefully, this recording will play here for an American audience.
See what you think !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNv75d0lyGg
I know what I think: it's an outrage, saying volumes for China's moral bankruptcy and its complete arrogance.