WASHINGTON Republicans suddenly demanding that President Joe Biden press China about the origins of the pandemic-causing coronavirus had little interest in such accountability a year ago when a president of their own party was heaping praise on the Communist regime.

As more experts express an openness to the possibility that the outbreak began a year and a half ago with an accidental release from a virology lab in Wuhan, top Republicans are taking the opportunity to hammer Biden as well as officials at the National Institutes of Health, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, for providing part of the funding for that lab.

Joe Biden has been rolling over for aggressors around the world, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who a year ago speculated that the virus may have been a bioweapon, told Fox News on Sunday.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who pushed the lab leak theory a year ago, responded on Tuesday to a Washington Post article explaining why it is gaining more prominence with a one-word tweet : Clowns, followed by four clown-face emoji.

Neither senator, though, had much to say a year ago when Donald Trump was occupying the White House and taking an entirely different tack with China and its ruler, Xi Jinping.

China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus, Trump wrote in a Jan. 24, 2020, Twitter post . The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!