ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says ex-correspondent
Terry Moran claims ABC News altered his report on Wuhan lab funding after sending the script to Anthony Fauci
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says ex-correspondent
Photograph: The Gateway Pundit (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Terry Moran, a former ABC News correspondent, said the network altered his 2021 report on COVID-19 potentially leaking from a Wuhan lab after the script was sent to Anthony Fauci for review.
- Moran claimed the revised version was "incomprehensible" and that he was told Fauci was involved in the review process, though he did not confirm this personally.
- The allegation surfaced the same week Fauci refused a private transcribed interview with Senator Ron Johnson’s subcommittee, as reported by right-rated outlets.
- No left- or centre-rated outlet covered Moran’s claim, though seven right-rated outlets ran the story.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
74/100
Craft
58/100
Hype
42/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
In August 2026, former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran claimed the network censored a 2021 report he produced on the theory that COVID-19 may have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Moran said the story was altered after being sent to Anthony Fauci, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for review. The allegation was made during an interview on the podcast "The Fifth Column".
Moran said the original report included information that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had been funded by the Chinese military, contradicting public statements by Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli. He described the revised version as "incomprehensible", with excessive caveats added. Moran said he was told Fauci was among those who reviewed the script, though he did not confirm this directly. The segment aired in June 2021 but Moran said he never watched the final version.
The claim emerged the same week Fauci refused a private transcribed interview with Senator Ron Johnson’s subcommittee on investigations. Fauci’s attorney notified Johnson’s office that the former official would not appear, as reported by ussanews.com and modernity.news. Fauci has previously invoked the Fifth Amendment during congressional hearings on COVID-19 origins.
The Gateway Pundit reported that Moran said Fauci "spiked" the story, while Fox News described the report as "overhauled" after being sent to Fauci. The Gateway Pundit framed the incident as Fauci having "the power to spike a news story at a major network", while Fox News noted that Moran later called the demonisation of Fauci "wrong" and described him as a public servant who "did his best".
All seven right-rated reports led on Moran’s allegation that ABC News altered his story after sending the script to Fauci. The Gateway Pundit and Fox News, the only outlets with full reports, quoted Moran’s description of the revised version as "incomprehensible" and his claim that he was told Fauci was involved in the review. Both outlets also noted that the Wuhan lab had been funded by the Chinese military, a detail Moran said was included in the original report.
The Gateway Pundit framed the incident as a "genuine scandal" and questioned how Fauci had the authority to influence a news story. Fox News included Moran’s later remarks that demonising Fauci was "wrong" and noted that the lab leak theory has since been embraced by multiple U.S. government agencies. The digests from ussanews.com, modernity.news, Zero Hedge, Twitchy, and Real Clear Politics all linked Moran’s claim to Fauci’s refusal to appear before Senator Johnson’s subcommittee.
No left- or centre-rated outlet ran the story. None of the right-rated reports mentioned that ABC News, Fauci, or Moran responded to requests for comment, as noted by Fox News. The digests did not include Moran’s later remarks that Fauci was a public servant who "did his best", which Fox News reported.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 17 Aug 2026, 04:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
7 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports agree that in 2021, ABC News edited a story on the COVID lab leak theory after sending the script to Anthony Fauci for review. Terry Moran, the former ABC correspondent who reported the story, said the network altered his piece the day it was due to air, making it incomprehensible. All five outlets carried Moran’s claim that Fauci’s office was involved in the review process.
- Fox News led on Moran’s allegation that ABC News censored his report at Fauci’s behest. The outlet quoted Moran calling the changes a "heavy hand of censorship" and describing the final version as "incomprehensible". It also noted that Fauci’s diary entries, published by Senator Rand Paul, showed close ties with media figures, including ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. None of the digests mentioned Fauci’s diary or his relationships with journalists.
- The four digests framed the story as part of a pattern of Fauci avoiding scrutiny. They led on his refusal to appear before Senator Ron Johnson’s subcommittee the same week Moran’s allegations surfaced. None of the digests included Moran’s later comment that Fauci was a public servant who did his best, or that the lab leak theory remained debated among scientists and agencies.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
7- Former ABC News Journalist Terry Moran Claims 2021 Story About COVID Being a Lab Leak Was Spiked by Anthony Fauci (opens The Gateway Pundit in a new tab)
The Gateway Pundit — is The Gateway Pundit biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Fauci In Hiding As ABC Censorship BOMBSHELL Explodes (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Podcaster Terry Moran Says ABC News Killed True COVID Lab Leak Story for Fauci (opens Twitchy in a new tab)
- Fauci In Hiding As ABC Censorship BOMBSHELL Explodes (opens modernity.news in a new tab)
modernity.news — is modernity.news biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Fauci In Hiding As ABC Censorship Bombshell Explodes (opens Zero Hedge in a new tab)
Zero Hedge — is Zero Hedge biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ABC News Exposed, Changed Coverage Due to 'Fauci' (opens Real Clear Politics in a new tab)
Real Clear Politics — is Real Clear Politics biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Ex-ABC News correspondent claims network overhauled his COVID lab leak report after sending copy to Fauci (opens Fox News in a new tab)
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says…?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 100% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says… biased?
- ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says ex-correspondent is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered ABC News spiked 2021 COVID lab leak story after Fauci review, says…?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Terry Moran say ABC News did to his story?
- Moran said ABC News altered his 2021 report on COVID-19 potentially leaking from a Wuhan lab after sending the script to Anthony Fauci for review. He described the revised version as "incomprehensible" and said he was told Fauci was involved in the review process, though he did not confirm this personally.
- Did Anthony Fauci refuse to be interviewed about this?
- Yes. Fauci refused a private transcribed interview with Senator Ron Johnson’s subcommittee on investigations the same week Moran’s allegation surfaced. His attorney notified Johnson’s office that he would not appear, as reported by right-rated outlets.
- Which outlets covered Terry Moran’s claim?
- Seven right-rated outlets covered the story, including The Gateway Pundit and Fox News, which published full reports. No left- or centre-rated outlet ran the story, according to the reports available.
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