Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Newsmax on Wednesday that, as a dentist with microbiology training, the wet market COVID-19 origin theory never made sense to him.
"A lot of us, including myself, found this to be a real strange business," Van Drew said during an appearance on Newsmax's "National Report." "It didn't look like a virus that originated naturally. It was almost silly that it was supposed to come from a wet meat market, a bat or some other animal."
Van Drew said that he spoke with other physicians — "both my colleagues in Congress and other ones that I know personally" — and they agreed that the wet market theory didn't add up.
The Energy Department now says that new intelligence shows the COVID-19 pandemic was most likely caused by a lab leak in Wuhan, China. The department's revised stance is one that has long been believed by many Americans, but was previously considered a conspiracy theory by U.S. public health leaders, including Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the Energy Department was previously on the fence about the origins of COVID-19, but a classified intelligence report given to the White House and congressional leaders highlighted an update to a 2021 report from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.
"They're a day late and a dollar short," Van Drew said of the Energy Department's assessment. "Important people didn't speak out when they should have. People like me and others — there was a handful of us — who said, 'This isn't right.' We were ostracized, made fun of, told we were wrong with another conspiracy.
"No, it's not. It's about time America stood up and was strong and said, This is totally unacceptable. We shouldn't be paying for the World Health Organization. We should get the real facts from the Centers of Disease Control on things in general, dealing with COVID."
Van Drew theorized that there's "a lot more to learn about COVID. We haven't been told the whole story."
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