Barn door and horses.

Can you rephrase this for “city folk”

They’re parroting conspiracy theory nonsense about a lab leak and how the U.S. was ‘funding gain-of-function research’ as if that’s not what pretty much all virology research is these days.

The fact is we need institutes studying coronaviruses. Especially in Asia, where so many originate. This is a very bad idea.

It’s not a conspiracy theory if it’s an accidental leak. It’s happened before in the Soviet Union and people died, although it don’t lead to an epidemic

The conspiracy theory is “COVID was engineered to affect Jews and Chinese less prior to being released on purpose”

These are different claims, and accidental leak is at least plausible and only blames the lab for improper safety precautions

The U.S. funding part, which implies it was engineered, is the conspiracy theory nonsense part.

which implies it was engineered

It They have admitted that. Coronavirus was manipulated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology to become more infectious. The contention is around the term "gain of function." Fauci changed the definition some years ago to skirt the funding bans imposed by Obama. His new definition requires intent to make a virus more communicable or virulent for humans. Since the WIV didn't intend to make it more communicable or virulent for humans, Fauci maintains it is not "gain of function" research.

I don't see why this is so hard for some people to accept. Chinese laboratory standards are among the worst in the world. Article after article after article details their abysmal safety standards. Why on Earth should we believe that this specific lab were somehow better? Of course it wasn't. Of course some unqualified technician made a mistake. This was always the concern about gain of function research, which was why Obama banned it.

If you want people to take you seriously, link to something other than notorious shitrag National Review. Everything after mentioning them is suspect.