National security adviser compares Chinese coronavirus response to Chernobyl

Getty Images

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday compared China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak to the Soviet response to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

“This was a virus that was unleashed by China. There was a coverup that someday they’re going to do an HBO show like they did with Chernobyl on this virus,” O’Brien said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, referencing the 2019 miniseries dramatizing the 1986 explosion of a reactor at the Soviet nuclear power plant and the bureaucratic response.

{mosads}Asked by host Margaret Brennan whether he was accusing the Chinese government as a whole or local officials of a coverup, O’Brien responded “We don’t know, because they kicked out all reporters and they wouldn’t let [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] investigators come in and they’re still stonewalling investigators.”

“It doesn’t matter if it was local officials or the Chinese Communist Party, it was a coverup and we’ll get to the bottom of it eventually,” he added.

In the same interview, Brennan asked O’Brien if, should the Chinese develop a vaccine for the virus, it would be made available to Americans.

“I think we’re going to develop a vaccine first,” O’Brien said, but added “there’s a chance, and it’s been reported, that the Chinese have been engaged in espionage to try to find the research and the technologies that we’re working on both for a vaccine and a therapy … they’ve got a many-year history of stealing American intellectual property and knocking off American technology and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that with the vaccines.”

Tags Coronavirus Sunday shows

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..

Main Area Top ↴

ovp - video bin

Kelly Rizzo shares details about launching Comfort Club

Kelly Rizzo shares details about launching Comfort ...
Debbie Allen talks 'Grey's Anatony' and her new ...
Fiona Rene shares the unique way she gets into ...
Taylor Krause says her 'brain geunuinely ...
Bethany Joy Lenz opens up about surviving a cult
Dafne Keen shares what it was like on the set of ...
More Videos
Main Area Middle ↴
Main Area Bottom ↴

Most Popular

Load more

Video

See all Video