Former US President Donald Trump has once again claimed that China bears responsibility for the outbreak of COVID-19.
During an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo, Trump claimed, without presenting any evidence, that the origins of COVID-19 are “so obvious,” saying “they came from Wuhan lab.” He also said that anyone who thinks otherwise is “just kidding themselves.”
“China has to pay, they have to pay reparations, and China does not have the money to pay those reparations,” Trump declared.
The ex-POTUS estimated the damage wrought by COVID worldwide, which he appeared to blame on Beijing, at $60 trillion – but he says China doesn't have it.
“But they have to do something to make up for what they’ve done,” he added. “What they’ve done to the world is so horrible, it’s been horrible, all over the world, and it does not stop.”
In 2020, the Trump administration promoted the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic started due to a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with the then-US president using monikers like “China Virus” and “Kung Flu” to describe the disease.
This theory, however, hasn’t been substantiated by any tangible evidence, though the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a report earlier this year, as far as the initial exposure to the coronavirus is concerned, both natural exposure and a laboratory-associated incident "are plausible."