Politics

White House Ramps Up Calls For ‘Robust, International’ Probe Of COVID Origins, With Full Access To China’s Data

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
Font Size:

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) investigation on coronavirus does not get “to the bottom of what happened” and called for another “robust, international” probe into the pandemic’s origins in China.

“One of the concerns that we have expressed from here is a lack of data sharing,” Psaki responded when asked when there will be “traction” on the new assessment. “We have not seen the initial data or the base of data that the report has been based on, and we have concerns and questions about the process used to reach the final conclusions.” (RELATED: Biden Admin Pushes Back On World Health Organization’s China Investigation — But What Happens Next?)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 22: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the more than 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in the Cross Hall of the White House February 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. Also on hand for the ceremony were first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 22: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the more than 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in the Cross Hall of the White House February 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. Also on hand for the ceremony were first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

“What we’ve been calling for and will continue to advocate for is an open, transparent international organization led by the world — I should say investigation — led by the World Health Organization,” she continued. “Certainly, getting to the bottom of what happened here, preventing it from happening in the future is a topic of conversation in a range of conversation the president has with Secretary of State, our National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has, and I expect those will continue.”

Psaki stopped short of saying whether the President Joe Biden had made a determination on whether gain of function research facilities, like the Wuhan Institute of Virology, should be eligible to receive grants from the United States government. They currently are eligible, though the Trump administration paused all funding to those facilities as a retaliatory measure back in 2020.

“Again, we support a robust, international investigation,” Psaki stated. “We have also taken steps at the State Department to make sure we have full staffing in our Beijing Embassy to ensure we have eyes and ears on the ground. As you noted, there’s no funding anticipated or planned to go to that facility at this point in time.”

WATCH:

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and two former top Trump administration officials — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger — have all expressed concerns regarding the WHO report in recent weeks.

Pompeo additionally stated on Fox News that nothing he has seen in recent months has changed his mind that the pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel