Fauci in 2017: ‘No doubt’ Trump will face surprise infectious disease outbreak

Well, this certainly doesn't help the conspiracy theories:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/29/fact-check-2017-anthony-fauci-warned-potential-outbreak/5494601002/

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/verify-fauci-said-trump-would-face-surprise-outbreak-didnt-predict-covid-19/65-b5ac71a8-b0d7-458e-af82-acedbf8c6f61

The actual video reveals the true nature of Fauci's comment, though, in my view:

https://www.facebook.com/bloombergbusiness/videos/285342982614327

I think this is a coincidence (most likely). Yes, Fauci approved the funneling of money to the Wuhan lab for gain-of-function research specifically for various coronaviruses (this is not in dispute, BTW), but I do not think this was an intentional plan. I place the highest probability on it being an accidental leak from that lab, given the overwhelming number of data vectors now known.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/08/josh-rogin-chaos-under-heaven-wuhan-lab-book-excerpt-474322

https://moviechat.org/bd0000082/Politics/609aee617cec9e0179f70fe2/COVID-Origin-Conspiracy-about-Wuhan-Lab-Perhaps-Not-a-Conspiracy-After-All

Listening to the generic nature and tone of his comments in that video, I do not think he let slip that he knew of some plan to try to oust Trump with a pandemic. He was commenting on the pattern that tends to occur with such things, and how past presidencies have had to deal with them. He probably didn’t expect it to be nearly as bad as it was. But it is interesting, and is fuel for the fire.

Could there be something to this? Maybe, but I place that as a very low likelihood at this juncture. Wait until further clarifying, solidifying information becomes available. Given the nature of his work, and the regular pattern that viral outbreaks have occurred in recent decades, there’s a fair chance of him happening to say something like this coincidentally. We should always strive to…
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