Kevin McCarthy, House GOP Leader, asked why Democrats haven't investigated pandemic deaths.He asked why no hearings were held on the "600,000 Americans who died from COVID."McCarthy defended the pandemic response of Donald Trump many times.Subscribe to the 10 Things in Politics Newsletter for the latest news in politics and the economy. Loading something is currently loading. Click Sign up to receive marketing emails and other offers from Insider.Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader, wondered aloud about why the opposition party has not investigated the COVID-19 pandemic death."Did we hold any hearings this week regarding the 600,000 Americans who were killed by COVID? And where did it come from?" At his weekly press conference, the California Republican stated.McCarthy was referring specifically to China and the Wuhan laboratory leak theory. Some Republicans claim that this is a bioweapon attack, despite evidence supporting only a possible origin through gain of function research.After China's refusal to cooperate with international requests for transparency, President Joe Biden asked the US intelligence agency to investigate the origins and spread of the virus.Numerous hearings have taken place in Congress regarding the US pandemic response. One of these was a Senate hearing by top public health experts.McCarthy is a strong defender of Trump's pandemic response and former President Donald Trump. He also denied that Trump was the one who incited the insurrection, despite an allegedly heated phone conversation between them as the Capitol was being breached.Independent analysis revealed that Trump's response to the pandemic resulted in 40% more deaths than could have been prevented.The House GOP leader outlined a number of other issues that Democrats should investigate instead of "turning our backs on America" or investigating the Capitol siege. These included border security and drug trafficking.On Thursday, Adam Kinzinger (Republican from Illinois) criticized McCarthy's refusal to accept a bipartisan Congressional inquiry on the insurrection.Kinzinger confirmed reports that McCarthy threatened McCarthy with removing any of his committee members if they joined Democrats' select committee."Who gives a damn?" Kinzinger spoke out about McCarthy's threats to his life, which the minority leader refuted.According to Forbes, Kinzinger stated, "When people say crazy things and you're gonna not make that threat but you make that threat for truth-tellers you have lost any credibility."
