Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., is calling for punitive action against China as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fleischmann’s comments came during a WVNN radio interview on “The Jeff Poor Show” on Monday. Poor detailed the interview in an article for Breitbart News.
“I think once we get through the difficult phase or phases, the United States or the global community is going to have to be punitive towards China,” he said “What I mean by that is they’re going to have to hold China accountable. Any nation that has had something like this happen needs to tell the truth, and they need to be forced to tell the truth.
“We’ve got to get the facts so that something like this does not happen in the future. Once we do that, we’ve got to look at what would be a fair way to compensate the United States for the losses we have sustained economically and otherwise."
He added: “I think there has to be some strong diplomatic action taken. There may have to be some subsequent trade action taken. There definitely will be legal action taken. The question will be on the enforceability of the legal action “
The U.S. is conducting an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus and intelligence findings it began in a Wuhan, China, virology lab before being spread across Wuhan and, ultimately, the globe.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.