{"id":529627,"date":"2021-05-20T13:05:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T17:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=529627"},"modified":"2021-05-20T13:05:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T17:05:19","slug":"politifact-quietly-retracts-pants-on-fire-lab-leak-fact-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politifact-quietly-retracts-pants-on-fire-lab-leak-fact-check\/","title":{"rendered":"PolitiFact Quietly Retracts \u2018Pants On Fire\u2019 Lab Leak Fact Check"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpolitifact-quietly-retracts-pants-on-fire-lab-leak-fact-check%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=529627&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>PolitiFact quietly retracted a fact check from September 2020 on Monday that called a Hong Kong virologist\u2019s claim that COVID-19 was a lab-created virus a \u201cdebunked conspiracy theory.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cThe claim is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on Fire!\u201d the now-retracted fact check stated.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A PolitiFact editor\u2019s note appended to an archived version of the fact check stated that the statements from scientists who asserted that the virus that causes COVID-19 could not have been manipulated is \u201cnow more widely disputed.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>PolitiFact retracted a fact check from September 2020 on Monday that had stated a Hong Kong virologist was pushing a \u201cdebunked conspiracy theory\u201d when she said on Tucker Carlson\u2019s Fox News show that COVID-19 was a lab-created virus.<\/p>\n<p>Virologist and former University of Hong Kong postdoctoral fellow Dr. Li-Meng Yan had claimed on Carlson\u2019s show that not only was COVID-19 a man-made virus created in a Wuhan lab, but it was also released intentionally into the human population by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe claim is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on Fire!\u201d PolitiFact\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/li-meng-yan-fact-check\/\">now-retracted<\/a> fact check stated.<\/p>\n<p>The retracted fact check stated that Facebook posts that contained the comments Yan made on Carlson\u2019s show had been flagged as part of the social media network\u2019s efforts to curb fake news and misinformation.<\/p>\n<p>PolitiFact uploaded a copy of the retracted fact check to its archive with an editor\u2019s note explaining why it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/sep\/16\/li-meng-yan\/tucker-carlson-guest-airs-debunked-conspiracy-theo\/?fbclid=IwAR2q03iqu3emgbCMQuoK_vz5XU8GVDDFMU-rE0L54H03EZaxh5mFcOmfeEs\">removed<\/a> it from its website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen this fact-check was first published in September 2020, PolitiFact\u2019s sources included researchers who asserted the SARS-CoV-2 virus could not have been manipulated. That assertion is now more widely disputed,\u201d the editor\u2019s note stated. \u201cFor that reason, we are removing this fact-check from our database pending a more thorough review.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrently, we consider the claim to be unsupported by evidence and in dispute,\u201d the editor\u2019s note added.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7196294\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7196294\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7196294\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-643961442-e1621526594576.jpg\" alt=\"Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China&#039;s Hubei province, on February 23, 2017. - The P4 epidemiological laboratory was built in co-operation with French bio-industrial firm Institut Merieux and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Photo by Johannes EISELE \/ AFP) (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE\/AFP via Getty Images)\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7196294\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China\u2019s Hubei province, on February 23, 2017. (OHANNES EISELE\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>PolitiFact\u2019s fact check had linked to a statement published in the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41591-020-0820-9\">Nature Medicine<\/a> in March 2020 by a group of five virologists who argued that the virus that causes COVID-19 exhibited no signs of purposeful laboratory manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>Longtime New York Times science reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/nicholaswade.medium.com\/origin-of-covid-following-the-clues-6f03564c038\">Nicholas Wade<\/a> wrote in May that despite the Nature Medicine statement being \u201cfull of absurdly large holes\u201d and \u201cgrounded in nothing but two inconclusive speculations,\u201d it successfully \u201cconvinced the world\u2019s press that SARS2 could not have escaped from a lab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>PolitiFact retracted its fact check on Yan after it published a lengthy piece on Monday on the origins of COVID-19 that acknowledged that some virologists, such as Rutgers University professor Richard Ebright, say that available scientific evidence supports both a natural origin or a lab accident origin.<\/p>\n<p>The story also acknowledged that some scientists contend that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was conducting risky gain-of-function experiments on bat-based coronaviruses and that the research was funded in part by a National Institutes of Health subgrant to the lab through the nonprofit group EcoHealth Alliance. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/\">(RELATED: US Grant To Wuhan Lab To Enhance Bat-Based Coronaviruses Was Never Scrutinized By HHS Review Board, NIH Says)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>PolitiFact Editor in Chief Angie Holan declined to offer additional comment.<\/p>\n<p>Despite retracting its fact check on Yan, a PolitiFact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/oct\/26\/scott-perry\/pa-rep-scott-perry-airs-debunked-claim-wuhan-lab-c\/\">fact check<\/a> on Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, who made a similar claim in October that COVID-19 was \u201cconstructed\u201d in a Wuhan lab, remains live on its website.<\/p>\n<p>An editor\u2019s note was added to the Perry fact check on Thursday after the Daily Caller News Foundation contacted the outlet for comment that acknowledges it is \u201cnow more widely disputed\u201d that the virus that causes COVID-19 could not have been manipulated, but added that Perry\u2019s claim that the virus was constructed remains false.<\/p>\n<p>However, the body of PolitiFact\u2019s fact check on Perry continues to state that there is no evidence that the virus was altered in a lab.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScientists worldwide have publicly shared the genetic makeup of the coronavirus thousands of times,\u201d the fact check states. \u201cIf the virus had been altered in a lab, there would be evidence in its genome. But there isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PolitiFact quietly retracted a fact check from September 2020 on Monday that called a Hong Kong virologist\u2019s claim that COVID-19 was a lab-created virus a \u201cdebunked conspiracy theory.\u201d \u201cThe claim &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312478,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-643961442-e1621526594576.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"PolitiFact Quietly Retracts \u2018Pants On Fire\u2019 Lab Leak Fact Check","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-643961442-e1621526594576.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"PolitiFact Quietly Retracts \u2018Pants On Fire\u2019 Lab Leak Fact Check","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}