WATCH: Fetterman reveals his ‘one regret’ from COVID era after Fauci testimony

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., says one of his regrets from the COVID-19 pandemic was not speaking up more forcefully about the possibility that the virus originated in a lab following a heated exchange with Anthony Fauci at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

“Did I have regrets?” Fetterman said. “Well, I did.”

Speaking to Fox News Digital after questioning Fauci at the Senate hearing, Fetterman said he regretted not speaking up when the lab-leak theory was dismissed as a “fringe” idea.

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“One [regret] for sure was, you know, this idea that it could have come from the lab,” Fetterman said. “That was like, you know, crazy, right fringe kind of thing. And I was like, ‘It seemed to make sense to me.’”

During his remarks at the hearing, Fetterman told Fauci that he was not there to attack him, but rather to call out his own questioning and hesitancy throughout the pandemic. He revealed that he was reluctant to publicly support the possibility of a lab origin after it became viewed as what he called a “right-wing kind of theory,” even though he thought it deserved consideration.

“I hope the next time this happens, we can follow where the truth is, depending on if there’s an R or D after the name or whatever the side is,” Fetterman told Fox News Digital.

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“It’s a virus, the only side is, really, Americans versus the virus in the future,” he told Fox News Digital.

Fetterman shared the same sentiment during the hearing, explaining that he doesn’t want to be “blindsided” by a partisan idea moving forward, arguing that everyone should be “willing to pursue the truth” despite what political party is spearheading it.

He also told Fox News Digital that he knew Fauci was going to plead the Fifth, which Fauci invoked 111 times after claiming Committee Chairman Rand Paul had an “obsession” with putting him behind bars. Fetterman shared that, regardless, he wanted to hold himself accountable for his own approach during the pandemic.

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“I know Dr. Fauci was gonna take the Fifth,” Fetterman said. “So just like I said, I expressed my one regret, [not] being more willing to push that idea,” Fetterman said, referring to the possibility of a lab leak.

Fetterman also spoke about his acknowledgement that while many lost their lives to the pandemic, countless businesses were also devastated by the pandemic — calling it a “different kind of death.”

“I’ve had loved ones die from COVID, but I also met and I’ve heard from countless people that lost their businesses,” Fetterman said. “That’s devastating.”