Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that he doubts President Joe Biden will share any intelligence linking the origin of the coronavirus pandemic to the Wuhan lab, should it exist, because his administration wants to be China’s “friend.”
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“Well, this administration wants to somehow find a way to be [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s friend, not be his enemy. I doubt very much if President Biden is going to allow the American people to know what the American intelligence community already knows. I would be very surprised.”
The U.S. intelligence community reportedly has a trove of information on the origin of the virus that may link it to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Biden is committed to a 90-day investigation that will attempt to determine the origin of the pandemic. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Republicans Demand Answers From Secretary Of State Over Reports Biden Called Off Investigation Into COVID-19 Origins)
House Republicans have insisted that there is “significant circumstantial evidence” that the virus came from the Wuhan lab.
Gingrich argued Friday that the U.S. ought to put pressure on China and compensate American families affected by the coronavirus.
“What we ought to do I think is establish a 30 or 40% extra tariff on all Chinese goods. Put that money into a fund to pay off the families,” Gingrich said.
He suggested families could then be allowed to sue China just like they can sue a corporation for compensation. Gingrich insisted that further tariffs on China could be justified because they are “bad actors” on the world stage. (RELATED: ‘Every Theory Should Be Explored’: Psaki Won’t Say Whether Biden Believes COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory)
Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands with then-Vice President Joe Biden on Dec. 4, 2013 in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
“We’re going to keep that tariff on until we raise enough money to pay off every American family. The rest of the world should take note of that and do the same thing,” Gingrich said.
The former speaker suggested that would put more pressure on Xi “because his export machine that keeps his economy rolling would be breaking. And he would have a real domestic problem not just a bunch of words.”