Robert Redfield, a self-described friend of Anthony Fauci and former CDC director, talked to Substack writer Paul D. Thacker about Fauci possibly funding gain-of-function research and the lab-leak theory.
“The potential for conspiracy is really on the other side,” Redfield said in the article published Thursday. “The conspiracy is Collins, Fauci, and the established scientific community that has acted in an antithetical way to science.”
Redfield was reportedly “very concerned” when at the outset of the pandemic Fauci promoted theories that the pandemic originated in a Chinese wet market, and dismissed theories that it originated in a lab in Wuhan, China. (RELATED: Fauci Stepping Down As Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, NIAID Director)
“I told Tony that I’m very concerned that he was championing this theory that it came from animals, but there is another theory: that it came from a laboratory,” Redfield added.
Fauci has claimed before Congress that he never funded gain-of-function research. Later, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak admitted that the NIH, where Fauci worked, funded gain-of-function research in China.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 14: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questions Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing about the federal response to monkeypox, on Capitol Hill September 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Yes, he clearly misled Congress. And then he went over the top taking on Rand Paul and others in an offensive way for a public servant. Tony and I are friends, but we don’t agree on this at all,” Redfield said.
“I think this is where Tony may have overplayed his hand when he was so aggressive with Congress, saying that he was never involved in funding gain of function research,” Redfield continued. “There’s too much evidence that’s just not true.”