I’m not on the left or the right, but I am an avid NYT reader and the paper was definitely equating lab leak with crazy conspiracy theory at the time. Here is

I’m not on the left or the right, but I am an avid NYT reader and the paper was definitely equating lab leak with crazy conspiracy theory at the time. Here is an example from 2020: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/business/media/coronavirus-tom-cotton-china.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/business/media/coronaviru... The title is “Senator Tom Cotton Repeats Fringe Theory of Coronavirus Origins” It opens with: > The rumor appeared shortly after the new coronavirus struck China and spread almost as quickly: that the outbreak now afflicting people around the world had been manufactured by the Chinese government. > The conspiracy theory lacks evidence and has been dismissed by scientists. But it has gained an audience with the help of well-connected critics of the Chinese government such as Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist. And on Sunday, it got its biggest public boost yet. It’s worth noting that the conspiracy they mention is that the virus was manufactured by the Chinese government. However, the only direct quote they provide from Cotton is this: > “We don’t have evidence that this disease originated there,” the senator said, “but because of China’s duplicity and dishonesty from the beginning, we need to at least ask the question to see what the evidence says, and China right now is not giving evidence on that question at all.” This was just the first result from a quick Google search: “nyt 2020 lab leak conspiracy”. There were definitely many other examples.