Fauci admits lab-leak story was not a conspiracy theory and social distancing was based on no scientific facts

WASHINGTON, DC - Dr. Anthony Fauci finished the second day of his meeting with members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, in which he reportedly admitted that the six-foot social distancing rule that emerged at the start of the coronavirus pandemic was based on nothing.

The committee, led by chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), provided a brief recap of Tuesday’s session. Monday and Tuesday’s closed-door meetings totaled 14 hours, according to lawmakers. In Tuesday’s session, Fauci admitted that the six-foot social distancing recommendation “was likely not based on any data,” according to the committee.

“It just sort of appeared,” it wrote, quoting Fauci.

“Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab-leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory,” the committee highlighted.

“This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous ‘Proximal Origin’ paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab-leak hypothesis,” it continued, noting that Fauci also admitted that vaccine mandates could “increase vaccine hesitancy in the future.”

Despite that, the committee revealed that Fauci “advised American universities to impose vaccine mandates on their students.”

Further, the committee said Fauci admitted that he supported former President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions from China, but he also “played semantics with the definition of a ‘lab-leak’ in an attempt to cover up the inaccurate conclusions of ‘Proximal Origin,’” the committee revealed.

Wenstrup said things became very “evident” following Fauci’s hours of testimony.

“During his interview today, Dr. Fauci claimed that the policies and mandates he promoted may unfortunately increase vaccine hesitancy for years to come,” he wrote, emphasizing that Fauci admitted the lab leak theory is not a conspiracy theory.

“Further, the social distancing recommendations forced on Americans ‘sort of just appeared’ and were likely not based on scientific data,” he said in a statement, concluding that the transcribed interview “revealed systemic failures in our public health system and shed a light on serious procedural concerns with our public health authority.”

“It is clear the dissenting opinions were often not considered or suppressed completely,” Wenstrup concluded.

“Should a future pandemic arise, America’s response must be guided by scientific facts and conclusive data,” he continued.

In Monday’s session, the committee revealed that Fauci claimed to "not recall" details surrounding “pertinent COVID-19 information or conversations” more than 100 times.