The scenario discussed in this Fox interview with Cotton was a bioweapon scenario. He didn't correct Maria Bartiromo on that and in his subsequent tweets he included the engineered bioweapon as one of the possible theories, despite that being debunked.
Some media certainly was sloppy in distinguishing an accidental lab leak with an engineered bioweapon, but proponents were definitely pushing the latter in the beginning of the pandemic (some still are). I never saw any experts rule out an accidental lab leak, just many believed zoonotic spillover was more likely.
And Reason is a fountain of misinformation, especially on COVID. Particularly Soave.