CORRECTION: The headline of the story was modified on 25 June, 2021 to give further clarity and emphasis to the fact that this is a fact-checking story. Other than this, the story remains the same.
A viral social media post claiming that Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, owns a patent of the global pandemic coronavirus is found to be a hoax. The claim also suggests that Fauci's income is completely dependent on keeping the pandemic going.
COVID-19, which was first reported in the Wuhan province of China, has so far infected over 164 million people globally. Several theories have suggested that COVID-19 virus was leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, even though the Chinese authorities have denied the allegations.
Not First Time Fauci is Targeted
It isn't first time when Fauci, who has remained on the forefront since the outbreak of the pandemic, has been accused of funding the outbreak of virus for personal gains by conspiracy theorists.
The recent conspiracy originated after a video of Wil Paranormal was posted by Bit Chute. The video is captioned, "Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Ralph Baric, the C.D.C. and a list of others wanting to take credit for inventing the Coronavirus are at the Hub of this story. From 2003 - 2018, they controlled 100% of the cash flow that built the empire around the Industrial Complex of Coronavirus."
Clips From 'Plandemic' Included in New Video
The video contains clips of conspiracist David Martin's Plandemic video. Lead Stories reported that the recent video includes a number of slides from Martin's earlier video claiming that the CDC filed for a patent on the newly isolated coronavirus genome in 2004. Nowhere in the clips is it mentioned that Fauci filed for the patent.
Furthermore, it was also not claimed in Martin's video that Fauci is earning by keeping the pandemic alive. However, the video did speak about CDC earning profits from the patent, a claim which was debunked by multiple factchecking outlets.
Despite the recent claim against Fauci having no basis at all, it certainly caught the fancy of the social media. "He controls the WHO. He funds the Pirbright institute which has a patent on the coronavirus. He didn't DEVELOP the vaxxes Bc he doesn't even have a college degree but he funded their development. Also Fauci," tweeted a user.
