Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani launched another conspiracy theory about the coronavirus, saying that former President Barack Obama gave funding to a Wuhan, China virology lab in 2017 from the U.S. budget.
Why did the US (NIH) in 2017 give $3.7m to the Wuhan Lab in China?
Such grants were prohibited in 2014.
Did Pres. Obama grant an exception?
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) April 26, 2020
President Donald Trump took over the presidency Jan. 20, 2017 but the budget for that year was part of a battle between the Republicans running the House and Senate in 2016. At the time, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was in control of Congress and the Senate majority leader was Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
According to a fact-check, the $3.7 million in grants given between 2014 and 2019 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to EchoHealth Alliance, a global environmental health nonprofit group, helped fund research on virology in Wuhan China.
“However, not all of that $3.7 million went to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and not all of the funding took place under the Obama administration,” reported Snopes. “Approximately $700,000 of the $3.7 million total was approved under Donald Trump.”
Giuliani is a frequent purveyor of conspiracy theories. He was diligently working with Ukraine to try and generate “dirt” on former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, which ultimately lead to Trump’s impeachment.
