White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien drew comparisons between China’s coronavirus outbreak response to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster during Sunday morning interviews.
When asked by CBS’ Margaret Brennan whether a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China would be made available to the American public, O’Brien replied that he believes that the U.S. would develop a vaccine first before accusing China of espionage.
“Now, there’s a chance, and it’s been reported, that the Chinese have been engaged in espionage to try and find the research and the technologies that we’re working on both for a vaccine and a therapy,” O’Brien said. “So, look, they’ve got a many, many year history of stealing American intellectual property and knocking off American technology. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that with vaccines.”
After claiming that the U.S. is “moving out very quickly” on therapies and a vaccine for COVID-19, O’Brien pivoted to how the novel coronavirus was “unleashed by China.”
“There was a cover-up that someday they’re going to do an HBO show like they did with Chernobyl on this virus,” O’Brien said. “But we’re going to be part of the solution to the virus.”
Asked to clarify what a “cover-up” means, O’Brien said that China covered up its handling of the novel coronavirus by giving “false information” to the World Health Organization.
Watch O’Brien’s remarks on CBS below:
O'Brien: "This was a virus that was unleashed by China. There was a cover-up that someday they're going to do an HBO show like they did with Chernobyl." pic.twitter.com/KWCXgTVU7p
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) May 24, 2020
O’Brien made similar remarks during an interview on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday morning after saying that “we’ll see” whether China can “live up” to its trade deal with the U.S. after it “unleashed” the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re in a very different world. The cover-up that they did of the virus is going to go down in history along with Chernobyl,” O’Brien said. “We’ll see an HBO special about 10 or 15 years from now, and so we’re in a different place with China as we speak today.”
Watch O’Brien’s remarks on MSNBC below:
O'Brien accuses China of covering up the coronavirus outbreak, which he says will "go down in history along with Chernobyl" pic.twitter.com/x4UyctPpty
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) May 24, 2020
