After previously relying on fringe websites to back up his conspiracy bullshit, a Chinese diplomat is now putting stock in random Twitter “shower thoughts.”

For the past few weeks, Zhao Lijian of China’s Foreign Ministry has been hard at work pushing a conspiracy theory that the Covid-19 virus actually began in the United States and was transmitted to the people of Wuhan by US soldiers.

Lacking actual evidence for this theory, Zhao has cited articles from globalresearch.ca, a Canadian website replete with typical conspiracy nonsense, but he recently discovered a new source of information on the matter retweeting a Twitter used called “the lizard king.”

“This isn’t a conspiracy tweet but I really think COVID-19 has been here in America for awhile. Do you guys remember how sick everyone was during the holidays/early January? And how everyone was saying they had the ‘flu’ and the flu shot ‘didn’t work’?” reads the tweet.

Rt: I really think COVID-19 has been here in America for awhile. Do you guys remember how sick everyone was during the holidays/early January? And how everyone was saying they had the “flu” and the flu shot “didn’t work”? https://t.co/VNkKh6wwKN — Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 22, 2020

The Lizard King is an American mom in New Mexico. In her subsequent tweets, she clarifies that she is not an expert, was just tweeting a “shower thought” she had in the morning, and that her random thought has “no scientific merit.”

For the tweet, she has apparently been getting quite a lot of hate mail. On Monday, she discovered who she had been retweeted by.

“I figured out why everyone is so angry at me today,” she writes. “A spokesperson from The Chinese Foreign Ministry (?) RT’d my shower thoughts on COVID-19. Lmfao FOR THE RECORD, AGAIN, literally nothing I said had any scientific merit. Pls stop taking it seriously and pls stop yelling at me.”

I figured out why everyone is so angry at me today. A spokesperson from The Chinese Foreign Ministry (?) RT’d my shower thoughts on COVID-19. Lmfao FOR THE RECORD, AGAIN, literally nothing I said had any scientific merit. Pls stop taking it seriously and pls stop yelling at me. — the lizard king (@mamaxbea) March 23, 2020

Despite the Lizard King’s disavowal of her own findings, Zhao appears unfazed, tweeting out that the US CDC had admitted that some Covid-19 patients were misdiagnosed with the flu during the “2019 flue season.”

Zhao is referencing comments made by CDC Director Robert Redfield when he was addressing the House Oversight Committee earlier this month. While Redfield does say that some cases were misdiagnosed, he never actually mentions a timeframe.

US CDC admitted some #COVID19 patients were misdiagnosed as flu during 2019 flu season. 34 million infected & 20000 died. If #COVID19 began last September, & US has been lack of testing ability, how many would have been infected? US should find out when patient zero appeared. — Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 22, 2020

By misportraying Redfield’s remarks, Zhao is attempting to force in his own timeline where the coronavirus first originated in the United States last autumn.

According to this theory, US soldiers were infected with the virus and brought the disease with them to Wuhan while coming to take part in the 2019 Military World Games, which were held in the Hubei capital between October 18 to 27.

Zhao’s tweets have worked to popularize the theory on Chinese social media with netizens echoing the diplomat’s call for an explanation from the US.

The theory has also been particularly popular among Twitter-using Chinese ambassadors in everywhere from Suriname to the Maldives:

Also RT'd by the Ambassador to the Maldives pic.twitter.com/RfbxFy92N2 — Joshua Dummer (@JoshuaDummer) March 16, 2020

This is the Chinese Ambassador to Iran, also repeating allegations the virus is a US-made bioweapon pic.twitter.com/iUvLmhmVo7 — Joshua Dummer (@JoshuaDummer) March 16, 2020

Chinese Embassy in Chad also shared it, conveniently translated in French pic.twitter.com/2CrKRVgtJf — Joshua Dummer (@JoshuaDummer) March 16, 2020

One official who has at least distanced himself from Zhao’s theory is China’s ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, who told Axios over the weekend that it is “crazy” to spread rumors about the coronavirus originating from an American military lab.

However, when asked specifically about Zhao, Cui shrugged off the question, replying, “I’m here representing my head of state and my government, not any particular individual.”

Cui is walking a fine line here. Zhao’s conspiracy pushing has not gone over well in the US, apparently inspiring President Donald Trump to publicly label the coronavirus, “the Chinese Virus.”

Soon after Trump began using that label, China made an unprecedented move in banning more than a dozen American journalists from the country.