Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is reportedly distancing himself from previous COVID-19 policies and positions he once advocated and has admitted the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origins is not a conspiracy theory, according to Republicans present during Fauci’s testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic this week.
Fauci acknowledged during his testimony that the COVID lab-leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory and also revealed that the 6-feet-apart social distancing recommendation was likely not based on any real data and “just sort of appeared.” As the official X account for the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic pointed out, Fauci was involved heavily in the “Proximal Origin” paper that sought to disprove the lab-leak hypothesis and portray it as an outlandish conspiracy theory.
✔️Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab-leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory.
This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous “Proximal Origin” paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab-leak hypothesis.
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) January 10, 2024
Fauci, who is reported to have answered “I do not recall” to over 100 questions, also expressed skepticism that school shutdowns negatively impact student learning, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. “He says he’s still not convinced that there was learning loss — that in his view, that’s still really open for discussion,” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), who sits on the panel, said in an interview with The New York Post.
