Psaki Won’t Say Whether Biden Has A Position On Gain-Of-Function Research
White House press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn’t directly answer when asked if President Joe Biden has a position on gain-of-function research during Friday’s press briefing.
“Well we have not – as Dr. [Anthony] Fauci has actually said repeatedly – we have never approved any funding for gain-of-function in Wuhan,” Psaki said. “I know that’s, I think, why you’re asking the question. I believe some may have been approved, or there was funding approved, during the prior administration – there’s a framework, I should say, this is not meant to be a criticism – of funding and how it’s approved through different NIH [National Institutes of Health] programs, but I would send you to them to give more of an explanation of the funding mechanisms.”
The White House also referred the Daily Caller to the NIH when probed about where the administrations stands on whether the country should be funding research that makes dangerous pathogens more infectious to humans Thursday.
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When asked specifically about Biden’s stance on the subject, the White House ignored multiple requests for comment. (RELATED: Will The White House Suspend Funding For Research That Can Cause Pandemics?)
Psaki was also asked about Fauci during the briefing. The Washington Post and Buzzfeed News published a slew of Fauci’s emails from the early days of the pandemic. Some of these emails showed Fauci saying one thing in private and another thing to the public.
Psaki was asked if Fauci should “be held accountable” if these emails are correct.
“Dr. Fauci is a renowned public servant – a civil servant, I should say, a career civil servant. He’s overseen management of multiple global health crises and attacks launched on him are certainly something we wouldn’t stand by.”
“I understand there’s interest in the emails, he’s answered a lot of questions on the emails, I don’t think I’m gonna have much more to add on them from here,” she said.
The press secretary also wouldn’t answer whether the administration feels the “attacks” are political, instead referring the reporter, Fox News’ Peter Doocy, to Fauci himself.
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