{"id":530073,"date":"2021-05-20T15:06:36","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T19:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=530073"},"modified":"2021-05-20T15:06:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T19:06:38","slug":"politifact-forced-to-pull-fact-check-of-tucker-carlson-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-segment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/politifact-forced-to-pull-fact-check-of-tucker-carlson-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-segment\/","title":{"rendered":"PolitiFact Forced To Pull Fact Check Of Tucker Carlson Coronavirus \u2018Conspiracy Theory\u2019 Segment"},"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\">26<\/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-forced-to-pull-fact-check-of-tucker-carlson-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-segment%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=530073&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1139127495-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Eight months after the fact, PolitiFact has been forced to walk back a fact check on a claim made on Tucker Carlson\u2019s Fox News show related to the origins of <span>SARS-CoV-2.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Earlier this week, Tom Kertscher and Noah Kim wrote an overview for PolitiFact \u201cdebating the origins of the COVID-19 virus.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><span>\u201cScientists who have studied the coronavirus have generally concluded that it resembles naturally occurring viruses,\u201d PolitiFact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2021\/may\/17\/debating-origins-covid-19-virus-what-we-know-what-\/\">explained<\/a> in their summary of the piece. \u201cBut researchers are paying more attention to the possibility that the virus somehow leaked from the lab, though there\u2019s still nothing conclusive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the report, PolitiFact acknowledged that \u201cmuch uncertainty remains about the origins of COVID-19.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><span>The site provides four \u201cfairly nuanced\u201d points explaining that we do not know where COVID-19 originated, insinuating that there are multiple plausible causes, including a leak from a Wuhan lab.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><em><span>SARS-CoV-2 was first noticed in Wuhan, close to a lab where bat coronaviruses were being studied and far from the location where naturally occurring relatives of the virus were found. However, there are other plausible explanations of how the virus could have made its way to Wuhan besides a lab leak.<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><em><span>Researchers at the Wuhan lab used reverse genetics on bat coronaviruses to create viruses not found in nature. Some of this research was funded by a grant provided by the National Institutes of Health. However, there\u2019s no evidence that this research led to the creation of SARS-CoV-2.&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><em><span>Scientists who have studied the coronavirus have generally concluded that it resembles naturally occurring viruses. However, we can\u2019t completely rule out that the virus was somehow manipulated. Some extremely competent forms of gain-of-function research don\u2019t leave signatures or telltale signs of manipulation.&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><em><span>The early outbreak of the coronavirus was linked to various wildlife markets, which lends support to the claim that the virus jumped from animals to humans. However, scientists haven\u2019t yet identified an intermediate host animal that could have incubated the virus before it jumped to humans.&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>This represents a drastic shift in approach to the Wuhan lab theory compared to PolitiFact\u2019s premature, repeated dismissal of it last year.&nbsp;<\/span><span>For example, in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/li-meng-yan-fact-check\/\"><span>now-archived fact-check<\/span><\/a>&nbsp;from September 2020<span>, PolitiFact claimed that a Tucker Carlson segment included a \u201cdebunked conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created in a lab.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the fact-check from September 16, 2020, Daniel Funke wrote for PolitiFact that \u201cscientists say the coronavirus emerged from bats and later jumped to humans,\u201d and that the genetic structure of the novel coronavirus \u201crules out laboratory manipulation.\u201d&nbsp;PolitiFact stressed at the time that&nbsp;<\/span><span>\u201cpublic health authorities have repeatedly said the coronavirus was not derived from a lab.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Referencing comments on Carlson\u2019s show by Dr. Li-Meng Yan, \u201ca virologist and former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong,\u201d PolitiFact rejected her claims as \u201ca conspiracy theory that has been debunked since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What were Dr. Li-Meng Yan\u2019s comments? \u201cI can present solid scientific evidence to our audience that this virus, COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 virus, actually is not from nature. It is a man-made virus created in the lab.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe claim is inaccurate and ridiculous,\u201d the fact checker declared. \u201cWe rate it Pants on Fire!\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>PolitiFact used this same logic to \u201cdebunk\u201d multiple similar claims. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In October 26, 2020, Tom Kertscher \u2014 one of the authors of PolitiFact\u2019s latest article, which effectively debunks their own debunking \u2014 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/oct\/26\/scott-perry\/pa-rep-scott-perry-airs-debunked-claim-wuhan-lab-c\/\"><span>rejected<\/span><\/a><span> Rep. Scott Perry\u2019s comments that COVID-19 \u201c<\/span><span>in my opinion, was constructed in the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then was spread around the world, either by accident or on purpose\u201d as \u201cFalse\u201d on Politifact\u2019s \u201cTruth-O-Meter.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/may\/21\/kimberly-lightford\/no-novel-coronavirus-was-not-man-made\/\"><span>May 21, 2020<\/span><\/a><span>, PolitiFact\u2019s Kiannah Sepeda-Miller rated Illinois\u2019 Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford\u2019s claim that COVID-19 is \u201cman-made\u201d as \u201cfalse.\u201d Sepeda-Miller argued that \u201c<\/span><span>research shows the genetic features of the virus rule out the possibility it was created or manipulated in a lab.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Funke rated NaturalNews.com\u2019s claim that \u201cthe coronavirus was engineered by scientists in a lab\u201d as \u201cfalse\u201d as early as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2020\/feb\/10\/naturalnewscom\/health-misinformation-site-promotes-conspiracy-abo\/\"><span>February 10, 2020<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>These fact checks are still published, but have been amended with an editor\u2019s note. For example, the archived \u201cPants-on-Fire\u201d fact-check referenced earlier is now preceded by:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"10.540869565217\">\n<p><i><span>When 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. For that reason, we are removing this fact-check from our database pending a more thorough review. Currently, we consider the claim to be unsupported by evidence and in dispute. The original fact-check in its entirety is preserved below for transparency and archival purposes. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2021\/may\/17\/debating-origins-covid-19-virus-what-we-know-what-\/\"><i><span>Read our May 2021 report<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span> for more on the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>It is currently unclear how many similar posts related to the now-plausible origins of COVID-19 were removed or suppressed based on these forms of now-archived fact-checks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span>@ighaworth<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eight months after the fact, PolitiFact has been forced to walk back a fact check on a claim made on Tucker Carlson\u2019s Fox News show related to the origins of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312497,"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-1139127495-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"PolitiFact Forced To Pull Fact Check Of Tucker Carlson Coronavirus \u2018Conspiracy Theory\u2019 Segment","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530073","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-1139127495-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"PolitiFact Forced To Pull Fact Check Of Tucker Carlson Coronavirus \u2018Conspiracy Theory\u2019 Segment","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530073","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=530073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}