Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has accused Donald Trump of making a “dangerous statement” by tweeting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has hindered the US’ covid-19 response, including the approval of a vaccine.
In a Saturday tweet tagging FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, the president accused the “deep state” of delaying approval on clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine on purpose to affect November’s election.
“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” said Trump.
Pelosi slammed the tweet through a statement saying the president’s words “went beyond the pale.”
“FDA has a responsibility to approve drugs judged on their safety and efficacy, not by a declaration from the White House on speed,” she said.
“This was a very dangerous statement on the part of the president, even for him it went beyond the pale, in terms of how he would jeopardize the health and well-being of the American people,” the Speaker of the House added.
Trump also slammed the FDA for revoking emergency use authorization of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat Covid-19. The president has praised hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment to the virus, but studies have produced mixed results.
Replying to a tweet from the FDA calling the drugs “ineffective,” the president claimed that “many doctors and studies disagree with this.”
Trump also slammed the government agency on Wednesday for holding off on emergency use of blood plasma to treat the virus.
“It could be a political decision because you have a lot of people over there that don’t want to rush things because they want to do it after November 3,” he said at a White House news conference.
Plasma rich in antibodies would theoretically help those with Covid-19 fight off the virus, but the FDA cited that the evidence is still too thin to support this claim.
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