It was considered whack-job territory, not worthy of serious discussion, the latest ride on the Crazytown Express.
And now, suddenly, the mainstream media are being forced to grapple with the possibility that it might be true.
Could COVID-19 have been created in — and escaped from — the Wuhan lab?
For well over a year, most media types dismissed that theory — and some ridiculed those who talked it up. The debate became wrapped up in politics, like just about everything else related to the virus — because President Trump was a leading proponent of the thesis.
Asked by a reporter in May 2020 whether he’d seen anything to give him confidence in the lab scenario, Trump said, "Yes I have. Yes I have. And I think the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves" for buying China’s spin.