The libertarian senator has sought to examine the theory that Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology genetically engineered the Coronavirus and allowed it to leak from the lab, after which it spread like wildfire across the globe.
“When we take over in November, I will be chairman of a committee, and I will have subpoena power,” Paul said at a campaign rally in Kentucky. “And we will get to the bottom of where this virus came from.”
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Paul has fought with Biden Administration officials such as Dr. Anthony Fauci several times over what he claims is a coordinated attempt to cover up the consequences of research in China into highly infectious pathogens, known as gain-of-function research. Paul has accused Fauci, who heads the office at the National Institutes of Health that deals with infectious diseases, of helping fund the gain-of-function research in China.
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“If you look at the evidence, overwhelmingly, not 100%, but overwhelmingly, the evidence points to this virus being a leak from a lab,” Paul said on Saturday.
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Fauci, meanwhile, has dismissed that the federal government funded gain-of-function research and maintains that the proof leads to zoonotic transmission, or viral spread from species to species, as the genesis of the pandemic.
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The Chinese government has hindered international attempts by outside groups such as the World Health Organization to examine the root cause of the pandemic, keeping them from inspecting labs and markets in the city of Wuhan.
If the Republicans take back control of Congress, which is becoming increasingly likely, Paul would be head of the influential Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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Fauci also mentioned threats made against his life and the lives of his family members, which Paul varied with examples of his own life being threatened over pandemic politics. Paul was also present at the 2017 baseball field shooting in Virginia when 24 Republicans practicing for a charity game were targeted by an attacker with a gun. This resulted in a shootout between the gunman and the Capitol Police. Senate Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was shot and had to undergo surgery.
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“It’s disappointing for you to suggest that people who dare to question you are responsible somehow for violent threats. Realize that by attacking me, you’re attacking the one member who actually has suffered from violent attacks,” Paul said. “We had over 160 rounds of semi-automatic weapons fired at us. ... So for you to somehow suggest that somehow I or people who dare to oppose you are responsible for a threat, that’s insulting.”