Rep. Jeff Van Drew says Dems not investigating China's role in pandemic because of politics
New Jersey Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew told 'Fox & Friends Weekend' that China needs to provide the U.S. with answers on coronavirus and make reparations for their role in the outbreak
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It is "unbelievable" that there is not a united political front in terms of holding China accountable for its role in the coronavirus outbreak, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said Saturday.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends Weekend" with hosts Jillian Mele, Griff Jenkins and Pete Hegseth, Van Drew said that President Trump was "spot on" in telling reporters the virus should have been stopped by the Chinese and said there are still many questions that need to be answered.
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"I mean, it is mind-boggling and unbelievable to me that everyone isn't joined together in trying to figure out how and why China did this to us," he said. "I mean, thank goodness that the president had the travel restrictions put in place earlier on. Because, if he didn't, the conditions would have been much worse."
Chinese paramilitary police wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand in formation outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing, Friday, May 1, 2020. The Forbidden City reopened beginning on Friday, China's May Day holiday, to limited visitors after being closed to the public for more than three months during the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
"But," the New Jersey congressman continued, "we have to know what the World Health Organization was doing, why they said that this was safe, why they said there was no problem with human transmission, why the two people who first identified this disappeared... why China didn't open its arms to us and allow our scientists -- who were begging to come in to help them -- to really try to reduce and restrict what was happening here."
To date, coronavirus has infected more than 3.9 million people worldwide and killed more than 275,000; 1.2 million of those cases have been confirmed in the U.S. and over 77,000 American deaths have been recorded.
Since the virus took ahold of the United States, Republicans have called for answers -- eventually forming a committee to hold China responsible for its actions before the virus spread to almost 200 countries. House Democrats, however, would not join in the investigation.
Van Drew told the "Friends Weekend" hosts that that decision was made with politics, and politics alone, in mind.
"I don't know. The only thing that can possibly be in their mind is politics," he said. "So, literally to risk the future of the country and the safety of the country and the fact that we want this to be the strongest country in the world in order to just politically try to achieve a goal is awful. It's horrible."
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"We need to really make sure that we understand what's going on with China here," Van Drew continued. "And, we need a new supply chain. We have to change a great deal of what we have done. There is only really one good thing with this coronavirus: it taught us a lesson that what we let go over the last many years should never have happened. We have to be the strongest in the economy, the strongest in energy, the strongest in intellectual property, the strongest in science, the strongest in everything that we do. Because they are serious. China wants to be the strongest."
"This was China's fault," he added. "China should really make reparations here."
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