6/4/2020 Cotton repeats coronavirus conspiracy theory, despite evidence

MADDOWBLOG

Cotton repeats coronavirus conspiracy theory, despite

evidence
Coronavirus conspiracy theories have, predictably, spread from the Republican fringe to the Republican
mainstream.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R Ark., speaks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting with fellow Republicans, including
Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who are at the Capitol to
discuss the nation's criminal justice sentencing laws, in Washington on Nov. 27, 2018.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP file

Feb. 17, 2020, 12:43 PM -03

By Steve Benen

There are some prominent political figures in the nation's capital who seem a little too fond of
conspiracy theories. Folks like Donald Trump and Sen. Rand Paul (R Ky.) routinely seem to
embrace some rather nutty explanations for events with more rational explanations.

But let's not forget Sen. Tom Cotton (R Ark.), who occasionally embraces some doozies of his
own.

As regular readers may recall, it was six years ago when the far-right Arkansan told voters that
Islamic State militants may travel to North America, partner with Mexican drug cartels, cross the
Privacidad -
C di i

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cotton-repeats-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-despite-evidence-n1137701 1/3
6/4/2020 Cotton repeats coronavirus conspiracy theory, despite evidence

border, plot terrorist strikes, and target his land-locked state. Pressed for some kind of evidence,
Cotton referenced a piece from an unhinged conspiracy-theory website.

Get the msnbc newsletter.

Your Email Address

SIGN UP
THIS SITE IS PROTECTED BY RECAPTCHA PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF SERVICE

A Washington Post fact-check piece said at the time, "As a lawmaker, Cotton needs to be careful
about making inflammatory statements based on such flimsy evidence."

Alas, the GOP senator did not take the advice to heart. In 2018, Cotton touted a weird conspiracy
theory to blame Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D N.Y.) for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's
accusations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In 2020, the Arkansan
apparently sees some merit in a brand new conspiracy theory, and this one's about the
coronavirus. The Washington Post reported:

Sen. Tom Cotton (R Ark.) repeated a fringe theory suggesting that the ongoing spread of a
coronavirus is connected to research in the disease-ravaged epicenter of Wuhan, China. Cotton
referenced a laboratory in the city, the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, in an interview on Fox
News's "Sunday Morning Futures." He said the lab was near a market some scientists initially thought
was a starting point for the virus's spread.

The GOP senator conceded there's no "evidence that this disease originated there," though
Cotton nevertheless believes officials "need to at least ask the question."

The problem with the pitch, of course, is that the question has already been asked -- and
answered. As Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biolo y at Rutgers University, explained,
"There's absolutely nothing in the genome sequence of this virus that indicates the virus was
engineered. The possibility this was a deliberately released bioweapon can be firmly excluded."

The right, however, doesn't want to do anything of the kind. As the New York Times reported,
former chief White House strategist Stephen Bannon appears fond of the idea, and it's gained
traction among conservative media outlets, including Fox News.

And now the public is hearing it again, except this time it's coming from an ambitious senator,
who happens to sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee, reinforcing concerns about the blurred
line between the Republican fringe and the Republican mainstream.
Privacidad -
C di i

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cotton-repeats-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-despite-evidence-n1137701 2/3
6/4/2020 Cotton repeats coronavirus conspiracy theory, despite evidence

ABOUT TERMS OF SERVICE

HELP CLOSED CAPTIONING

CAREERS TRANSCRIPTS

MSNBC STORE ADVERTISE

PRIVACY POLICY ADCHOICES

DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION

© 2020 NBC UNIVERSAL

  

Privacidad -
C di i

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cotton-repeats-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-despite-evidence-n1137701 3/3