White House replaces Covid.gov with ‘Lab Leak’ webpage, blames origins of outbreak on Wuhan laboratory

There’s a lot to say about the White House’s new COVID-19 webpage. Before we get into it, here’s what happened.

The Trump administration has replaced COVID.gov (which is now unavailable), the federal government’s main source of information about the coronavirus, redirecting it to a revamped new page on whitehouse.gov called “Lab Leak: The True Origins of COVID,” which is riddled with misleading and conspiratorial claims about the coronavirus, asserting that the virus leaking from a lab in Wuhan, China, is the “most likely” origin.

It’s a theory that emerged in the early days of the pandemic and has been repeatedly disputed by health experts. (A team of WHO-appointed scientists flew to Wuhan in early 2021 to investigate the source of the pandemic concluded the lab-leak theory was “extremely unlikely.”)

The original website, launched under Biden, promoted information about the coronavirus vaccine, treatment, and testing. The new one rewrites the historic timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role Democrats played in it, along with—you guessed it—the role of the media, which it also blames for discrediting its lab leak theory.

“The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” publication — which was used repeatedly by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab leak theory — was prompted by Dr. Fauci to push the preferred narrative that COVID-19 originated naturally,” the site reads.

“This administration prioritizes transparency over all else,” a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. “The American people deserve to know the truth about the Covid pandemic and we will always find ways to reach communities with that message.”

Old grudges resurface

The site blames the Biden administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in particular (which now faces a massive overhaul, including staff layoffs, as DOGE slashes its budgets and staff), for engaging “in a multi-year campaign of delay, confusion, and non-responsiveness in an attempt to obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation and hide evidence that could incriminate or embarrass senior public health officials.”

It also takes a swipe at former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, claiming that he misled the public with his recommendation that Americans keep “6 feet apart” and use masks—both of which were credited with helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Instead, it argues “there was no conclusive evidence that masks effectively protected Americans from COVID-19.”

The site also insinuates that former President Joe Biden pardoned Fauci for how he handled the pandemic. (Biden has said that he issued preemptive pardons for Fauci and a host of others, as a guard against potential “revenge” from Trump in his second term.)

Finally, a lot has been said about the White House website’s dramatic bold redesign, and this page is no exception. On social media, users are making fun of the layout and font of the page, which looks both imposing and flashy, and unusual for a sitting president.