Chuck Todd Told Jake Sullivan On MTP That Covid Now Confirmed To Be Lab Leak

Misleading, irresponsible headline by ⁦@WSJ⁩ with this covid lab leak story. Many people won’t read past it to learn that the Energy Department holds a minority view among US agencies and rated this conclusion as “low confidence” https://t.co/ouKXgXlJPC

— Mark Follman (@markfollman) February 26, 2023

Oops.

Readers don’t learn until the end of the 3rd paragraph that the Energy Dept holds a minority view—and they don’t learn until the 5th paragraph that its conclusion is rated “low confidence”

Square that with the WSJ headline announcing that Covid “most likely” came from a lab leak

— Mark Follman (@markfollman) February 26, 2023

Apparently Nate Silver didn’t read the article, either.

Welp. The behavior of a certain cadre of scientists who used every trick in the book to suppress discussion of this issue is something I'll never forget. A huge disservice to science and public health. They should be profoundly embarrassed.https://t.co/nZqzjrvo8F

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 26, 2023

But, you know, his opinions on the future (elections) are still reliable. Although “discussion of the issue” really should stick to “known facts,” even now.

To be clear, I’m not ‘against’ the lab leak theory — I’m for sticking to the known facts (and not distorting them in headlines or social media posts) while investigation of the pandemic continues, as @juliettekayyem puts it well here. 7/x https://t.co/4sly5Pw63q

— Mark Follman (@markfollman) February 26, 2023