According to a poll research by the Pew Research Center, American viewers who watch MSNBC are more likely to believe the coronavirus developed naturally in Wuhan, China, while Fox News viewers are more likely to go the conspiracy theory route.
Virologists and researchers have stated that the deadly virus’s origin came from local wildlife, debunking quite a few of Fox News claims. The survey’s data listed that about 66% of the respondents who watch MSNBC believe COVID-19 occurred naturally. Meanwhile, approximately 37% of Fox News viewers think the same.
Back in February, during the early stages of this pandemic arriving in the United States, a Fox correspondent and analyst from Fox Asia, Gordon Chang, stated on the cable television network that the coronavirus may have originated from the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory. This is an incorrect possibility, fact-checked by scientists.
Along these lines, President Trump has often referred to the virus as the “China virus” or the “Chinese virus”. However, he mentioned in a recent interview with Fox News that he will stop using that phrase in spite of his claims that China has attributed the COVID-19’s origin to American soldiers in Wuhan. Whether or not this is true (in my opinion, it’s probably not true, considering the President has lied numerous times before), it has been labeled as “race-baiting” by critics. Others believe Trump’s attempt at pushing the blame towards China is a strategy to improve his declining approval rating. What do you think?
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