Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, said her rejection of evolution leads her to believe the novel coronavirus did not emerge naturally but was created in a lab as a “bioweapon” and unleashed.
Ms. Greene offered the explanation Tuesday while speaking with former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon about her opinions on the origins of COVID-19, the highly contagious disease caused by the coronavirus.
“That’s a bioweapon,” Ms. Green said. “So we need to be very clear about what was the intent of COVID-19 and these viruses that they experiment with like some sort of Dr. Frankenstein experiment.”
The origins of COVID-19 remain unclear. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence has said it may have first been transmitted to humans from animals or perhaps emerged due to a lab accident.
Ms. Greene said that she believes the virus was created within a lab in Wuhan, China, where the first cases of COVID-19 were first reported in late 2019 prior to the outbreak becoming a global pandemic.
Interviewing her on his “War Room: Pandemic” podcast, Mr. Bannon raised the idea of COVID-19 being the result of “gain-of-function” research possibly done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Gain-of-function research can involve altering natural organisms to increase their transmissibility to help predict and prepare for emerging diseases. Ms. Greene said that she does not support it.
“I don’t buy it because I don’t believe in evolution,” Ms. Greene said about gain-of-function research.
“I don’t believe in that type of so-called ’science,’” she continued, using air quotes for emphasis. “I don’t believe in evolution. I believe in God.”
Ms. Greene, who has represented Georgia’s 14th Congressional District since January, added that she does not oppose all virus research and said that “of course” they need to be properly studied.
“But I’m opposed to creating viruses, and that’s what they did. They created a virus and this virus clearly escaped the Wuhan Lab and killed people,” Ms. Greene asserted.
The director of national intelligence’s office said last month the U.S. intelligence community believes it is likely COVID-19 originated either from human contact with infected animals or a lab accident.
Neither scenario has been proven, however, and President Biden has recently asked the U.S. intelligence community to redouble its efforts to understand the origins of COVID-19.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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