Kimmel kicked off the segment by stating that eight federal agencies have now weighed in on what they believe to be the origin of COVID-19. Of these eight agencies, four believe that the virus was caused by natural transmission, two believe it originated in a Chinese laboratory, and two are still undecided about the origin.
Kimmel continued: "Now the dingbats see that as some kind of proof that they were right, that the virus came from a Chinese leak at a laboratory, which, by the way, it might have. The point is, we didn't know then [in 2020], we still don't know now, but what we did know was that Trump and his buddies blaming the Chinese resulted in a great deal of anti-Asian American sentiment and even violence in this country, and that's why it was irresponsible for the president to call it the China virus."
Kimmel ridiculed the possibility of the virus originating in a lab and concedes that it's still a possibility in almost the same breath.
When Kimmel showed a segment of Carlson suggesting that comedians may be reading cue cards from foreign governments, Kimmel responded, saying: "Isn't that beautiful? I mean the idea that this man would accuse...that I would be accused of reading talking points from foreign governments... If it weren't so brazen, it would almost be funny coming from this loathsome, un-American, Moscow mule."
The DoE joined the FBI in suggesting that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory. While the FBI reportedly holds this possibility with "moderate confidence," the DoE is convinced of this possibility with "low confidence." While the confidence level of these agencies is in flux, the fact remains that federal agencies in the U.S. are not taking the origins of COVID-19, and it has yet to be seen which side the two undecided agencies will come down on.
Yahoo reported that the DoE's recent support for the lab-leak theory is based on new intelligence, though US officials have reportedly declined to make the details of the evidence available. The agency's decision is significant given its scientific prowess and general management of national laboratories across the US.
