NYT and others were reluctant to talk about the lab leak theory because Trump put them in an impossible position by constantly stirring up racial tensions regarding COVID. His actions led to real violence against Asian Americans and promoting the lab leak would have furthered it.

We could have easily been able to have an open conversation about the lab leak possibility if we had proper leadership at the time.

The first thing Bush did after 9/11 was go on TV and essentially say to everyone: “hey, don’t be racist towards Muslim Americans because of this attack; they are fellow Americans and have nothing to do with this” and it was largely effective.

(Not that I'm praising Bush as a president, but this specific act was an instance of good leadership)