Rick Scott says ‘weak President’ Joe Biden won’t press China on virus origin question

Florida’s junior Senator returned to the Fox Business Network Monday, slamming President Joe Biden for not demanding answers from China about the origins of COVID-19.

The comments came in the wake of reports, first broached in The Wall Street Journal, about Wuhan lab workers getting sick with the coronavirus in November 2019, well before the virus became a matter of global concern.

Sen. Rick Scott called Biden a “weak President with no backbone,” slamming him toward the end of his interview on the Mornings with Maria Bartiromo program.

“He’s soft on China, soft on the Ayatollah of Iran, he’s soft on Cuba, he’s soft on dictators,” Scott told host Maria Bartiromo. “I mean, he’s a weak President with no backbone.”

“Communist China clearly covered this up. We don’t know how it got created, whether it was intentional or unintentional, but clearly, China has not been transparent,” Scott continued.

“We have to understand that this is a despicable government. 500,000 Americans have died because of their cover-up. We have to get to the origin of this, to find out what happened.”

“All of us can say don’t buy anything from communist China. Stop helping their despicable government,” Scott urged before closing with another dig on the President.

“Joe Biden wants to be in every parade. He wants to be everybody’s friend,” Scott lamented, struggling to be heard over the bumper music and the host’s closing spiel.

The Biden administration, according to Reuters, has “serious questions about the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its origins within the People’s Republic of China.”

Their preferred investigative process is through an international study via the World Health Organization, which Scott has contended has worked with the Beijing government to cloud the origins of the virus from the beginning.

“When it comes to coronavirus, the WHO failed. They need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic. We know Communist China is lying about how many cases and deaths they have, what they knew and when they knew it — and the WHO never bothered to investigate further. Their inaction cost lives,” Scott said in March 2020, urging a Congressional investigation of the WHO.

Perhaps pressure ultimately will build for an investigation, however. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a frequent punching bag for Republicans, is among those “not convinced” by China’s contention that the virus evolved organically.

“No, actually. I am not convinced about that. I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” Fauci said earlier this month, in comments first reported by Fox News.

China has again denied culpability, with a defense ministry spokesman slamming the latest reporting as “completely untrue.”