Former CDC Director Says He Was ‘Sidelined’ And ‘Threatened’ After He Took COVID Lab Leak Theory Seriously

On Monday, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said that when he began to take the lab leak theory seriously at the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, he was “sidelined” and “threatened.”

Redfield made his comments during an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum.

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Redfield Claims He Was ‘Threatened’

In January of 2020, two of the most bandied about theories on COVID-19 were that it might have jumped species or leaked from a laboratory.

Redfield said that he believed the evidence supported the theory that SARS-CoV-2 came from a lab.

“I think what you have seen over the last 18 months is no new evidence to suggest that this evolved from nature,” Redfield told MacCallum.

“Haven’t seen any evidence of it being associated with any of the animal species they’ve tested, over 80,000 animals,” he explained. “But we have seen growing evidence to support that this in fact was a consequence of a laboratory leak.”

Redfield added, “So I continue to believe of the two hypotheses that the laboratory leak is the most likely origin of this virus.”

Redfield said the virus potentially being caused by science and not nature was “in a way tragic.”

“And I think I’m very disheartened when I have seen how the scientific community failed to approach both hypotheses with an open mind,” the former CDC director said.

Refiled added, “I mean I was very rapidly sidelined, threatened and really sort of outed because I believed as a virologist that this virus may have come from the laboratory.”

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Redfield Said He Was Threatened By Other Scientists For Espousing Lab Leak Theory

This isn’t the first time Redfield has talked about the consequences of his belief. 

In June, Redfield said that he received death threats from fellow scientists.

Why? Because he dared voice support for the lab leak theory.

Vanity Fair reported, “After the interview aired, death threats flooded his inbox. The vitriol came not just from strangers who thought he was being racially insensitive but also from prominent scientists, some of whom used to be his friends.”

Redfield was floored by what has happening, saying, “I was threatened and ostracized because I proposed another hypothesis. I expected it from politicians. I didn’t expect it from science.”