[jonnycomputer]

Let me see if I can say restate this more clearly.

I have always accepted the possibility that the virus escaped from a lab in China. However, like many other Americans, I refused to be drawn into public speculation about it by people, like Donald Trump and Stephen Miller, with a political and ideological interest in stoking xenophobia. In particular, I saw their attempt to blame China--before definitive evidence was acquired--as an attempt to shift blame away for the Trump administration's dismal response to the virus to external actors.

And yes, we have seen a rise in anti-Asian hate crime and sinophobia in America, largely as a result of this kind of rhetoric.