CNN is being criticized for dismissing the theory that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak. The federal government issued a report suggesting that the virus may have been developed in a laboratory, a perspective the Trump administration had previously espoused.

According to Fox News Digital, a CNN insider revealed that then-president Jeff Zucker refused to cover the lab-leak story in the early months of the pandemic because he believed it was a “Trump talking point.” CNN published articles debunking claims made by supporters of the lab leak theory, and hosts referred to it as a “far-right conspiracy theory.”

Ex-CDC Director Robert Redfield told CNN in May 2020 that he believed coronavirus escaped from the Wuhan lab. Still, his theory was dismissed by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who said the lab leak theory was “unlikely.” CNN’s coverage of the Redfield interview called it a “controversial theory without evidence.” Even CNN host Chris Cuomo invited a correspondent to downplay the lab-leak theory.

Although CNN promoted initiatives like “Facts First,” it faced allegations of compromising its journalistic standards by not investigating the lab-leak hypothesis. CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria remarked that far-right groups adopted the idea of a virus leak from a laboratory as a conspiracy theory.

In May 2020, Chris Cuomo, CNN’s prominent anchor before his dismissal in December 2021, admitted uncertainty about the lab-leak theory’s validity but invited correspondent Alex Marquardt to play down its significance by citing the precise nature of evidence, foreign intelligence partners’ disputes, the World Health Organization’s description of it as “speculative,” and even echoing China’s criticism of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as “insane” for promoting the theory. 

In 2021, Robert Redfield, former director of the CDC, claimed to CNN that he thought the coronavirus originated from the Wuhan lab, but they ignored his statement. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta referenced the World Health Organization’s (WHO) stance that the theory of a lab leak was improbable, while Chinese officials suggested various sources, including “U.S. military labs. CNN’s Twitter account for the now-canceled “New Day” program characterized Redfield’s theory as lacking “clear evidence.” At the same time, the network’s online coverage went further by describing it as a “controversial theory without evidence.”

During the early stages of the COVID outbreak, CNN faced difficulties as it not only disregarded the lab leak theory and allowed Chris Cuomo to engage in on-air banter with his brother, then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, but also faced allegations of hypocrisy.