Rand Paul: Anthony Fauci's Testimony on Gain-of-Function Research Was 'an Out-and-Out Lie'

"This research was a dangerous type of research that should have been reviewed," said Paul. "It wasn't."

Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) accused White House coronavirus adviser Anthony Fauci of misleading the public about the U.S. government's funding of gain-of-function research.

"When Dr. Fauci said that this research was reviewed and found to be safe by experts, that was also a lie," said Paul in an interview on Thursday.

Paul made these comments during a conversation on Rising, the news show I co-host for The Hill. His remarks followed a hearing organized by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Emerging Threats to explore the question of whether government-funded research could be responsible for inadvertently creating the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think the key was that all three scientists that we brought in—and these were esteemed scientists that have been interested in this issue for some time—all three of the scientists agree that the research … was gain-of-function research, that this research was a dangerous type of research that should have been reviewed by the pandemic committee that reviews dangerous research, and that it wasn't," said Paul. "What Dr. Fauci said, directly in committee, that the [National Institutes of Health] does not fund gain-of-function [research] in Wuhan and never has is an out-and-out lie."

Paul advised that the U.S. government should restrict research being done on deadly viruses to make them potentially more infectious. Watch the full interview below: