Comedian Jon Stewart, normally adored by his progressive fans, became the target of their outrage Monday after asserting the coronavirus pandemic originated from a laboratory leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The theory, once decried by the media as a conspiracy theory despite a lack of evidence disproving the possibility, has gained significant traction in recent months. Prominent scientists and experts, in the United States and abroad, have been calling for more investigation into the theory despite communist China's repeated denials that Wuhan's lab played a role in the pandemic.

What did Stewart say?

Speaking with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show," Stewart said humanity owes a "great deal of gratitude to science" because "science has, in many ways, eased the suffering of this pandemic, which was more than likely caused by science."

When Colbert noted that investigations are probing the "chance" the pandemic originated inside the Wuhan lab, Stewart retorted, "A chance?!"

"Oh my God! There's a novel respiratory coronavirus overtaking Wuhan, China, what do we do? Oh, you know, who we could ask? The Wuhan novel respiratory coronavirus lab. The disease is the same name as the lab! That's just a little too weird!" Stewart said.

"And then they ask those scientists, 'How did this — So, wait a minute. You work at the Wuhan respiratory coronavirus lab. How did this happen?' And they're like, 'A pangolin kissed a turtle,'" Stewart mocked.

"No! The name of your lab — look at the name! Let me see your business card! Show me your business card! Oh? 'I work at the coronavirus lab in Wuhan.' Oh, because there's a coronavirus loose in Wuhan — how did that happen?" Stewart continued. "Maybe a bat flew into the cloaca of a Turkey and then it sneezed into my chili and now we all have coronavirus. Like, come on!"

Stewart then drew a comparison between COVID-19 and a "chocolate outbreak" in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

"Oh my God! There's been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania. What do you think happened?" he mocked. "Oh, I don't know, maybe a steam shovel made it with a cocoa bean. Or it's the f***ing chocolate factory!"

When Colbert pushed back — noting that another possibility is that COVID-19, indeed, came from bats — Stewart explained that Wuhan, China, is not the only place in the world with a bat population. In fact, Stewart cited Austin, Texas, as a city with a significant bat population, and noted there is no Austin coronavirus.

"The only coronavirus we have is in Wuhan!" Stewart exclaimed

What was the reaction?

Progressives turned their anger on Stewart for pushing what many still believe is a racist conspiracy theory about COVID-19.

• "i have watched you for years. Never been disappointed until tonight. Spewing an unproven, outside theory, is extremely irresponsible. The nuts on the right do NOT need more crazy juice. Please stop," one person said.
• "[Stewart] was being racist as f**k. And it doesn't matter where a pathogen arises, does it. I don't recall pointing fingers at French airline workers, do you? And @jonstewart didn't allow for any possibility except it being CREATED by the lab. It's from f***ing earth," another person said.
• "Jon Stewart talking about a covid lab leak hypothesis as if he became a crazy MAGA republican wtf," one person reacted.
• "What. The. F***. @jonstewart," another person said.
• "F***. That was disappointing. Not just Jon Stewart's anti Chinese rants, but that Stephen Colbert was cool with it," another person reacted.
• "What @jonstewart just did was downright dangerous to all Asian-Americans," one person claimed.
• "Missed seeing Jon Stewart on Colbert and apparently THAT was a good thing... Not good he's pushing the lab leak conspiracy theory... What's up w/him, I thought he was more intelligent than THAT... UGHH..." another person said.
• "Jon Stewart was one of my idols until tonight. He's giving credibility to the Wuhan lab leak conspiracy and spreading dangerous lies," another upset fan said.