Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is bashing President Donald Trump for his claims on the origins of the coronavirus.
Trump said on April 30 that he is confident the coronavirus originated in a Chinese virology lab, as IJR previously reported.
The lab dismissed Trump’s allegations and other officials are skeptical of them.
According to Schiff, the evidence Trump is talking about has not been shared with Congress and he is unsure of how it would benefit the administration to withhold it.
“I don’t know where they’re getting this apart from either expressing their desire or they’re withholding information from Congress but I don’t see what would be gained by doing so,” Schiff said during a recent MSNBC interview.
Check out his comments below:
Schiff is certain Trump is trying to “deflect attention” from how the administration has handled the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think what they’re clearly trying to do is deflect attention away from the administration’s terrible mishandling of this virus and all of the false narrative that the president was putting out early on about this going away on its own, being no worse than the flu, that we’re going to contain it down to zero,” Schiff said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also said there is “enormous evidence” the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab, as IJR previously reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has not seen the evidence.
“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the U.S. government relating to the purported origin of the virus. From our perspective, this remains speculative,” Dr. Mike Ryan said during a press conference on Monday.
The WHO believes the coronavirus originated in bats, according to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove.
The U.S. Intelligence Community has confirmed it is investigating the origins of the coronavirus. The U.S. Intelligence Community also said it does not believe the virus was “manmade or genetically modified.”