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Trump tweet: “Tony’s pitching arm is far more accurate than his prognostications”

Fauci: Trump team is “harassing me”

NEW POLL: Fauci’s vaccine guidance most trusted by Americans; Trump & Operation Warp Speed among least trusted

Flashback: Trump openly politicizes new FDA guidelines, complains they would “make it more difficult for them to speed up vaccines for approval before Election Day”

Washington, DC – Today, Accountable Pharma released the following statement on President Trump’s latest swipe at his government’s top infectious diseases specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci. This is the latest attack by President Trump on the scientists and public health officials who are publicly contradicting his misinformation and, so far, refusing to cut corners on vaccine approval in the face of his political pressure. And it comes as a new Politico/Morning Consult poll came out showing that Dr. Fauci is the most trusted by the public when it comes to who they would listen to regarding vaccine safety and efficacy. 

“President Trump is clearly growing increasingly frustrated that his top scientists and public health officials are focused more on developing safe, effective, and trusted vaccines and treatments than they are on helping him politically,” said Eli Zupnick, spokesman for Accountable Pharma. “In the coming weeks people should expect an increasingly desperate Trump pushing more hype and misinformation and dialing up the pressure for his FDA to cut corners and announce emergency approvals to help him politically.”

The continued pressure and intimidation from President Trump comes in advance of next week’s FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting discussing the “development, authorization and/or licensure of vaccines to prevent COVID-19.”

A timeline of political pressure on health officials

  • October 7: President Trump released a video that, among other claims, hypes experimental drugs that he personally used and that he claims he will pressure the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve. Trump once again contradicted members of his own Administration and claimed that the fact that a vaccine isn’t available “before Election Day” is “political.”
     
  • October 6:  “White House Agrees to FDA’s Guidelines for Vetting Covid-19 Vaccines”…Trump calls it “political hit job.”
     
  • October 5: Reports emerge that the White House, in consultation with the drug industry, has overruled the FDA and plans to block the new guidance.
     
  • September 28: White House objections may prevent FDA from releasing stricter guidelines drawn up for the emergency authorization of coronavirus vaccines.
     
  • September 21: President Trump once again claimed that a vaccine will be approved “within a matter of weeks” and that it will be available to the public “long before the end of the year, maybe…maybe by the end of October,” contradicting  his top public health officials.
     
  • September 16: President Trump publicly scolded the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield following his testimony to Congress that mask use was critical in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and that a vaccine would likely not be available to the American public until “late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”
     
  • August 30: WaPo: “Inside Trump’s pressure campaign on federal scientists over a covid-19 treatment”
     
  • August 25: NPR: “FDA’s Hahn Apologizes For Overselling Plasma’s Benefits As A COVID-19 Treatment”
     
  • August 24: “Trump’s FDA Intimidation Campaign Pays Off With Politically-Convenient Announcement; Further Undermines Trust in Vaccine, Treatment Approval Process”
     
  • August 22: Trump dials up the pressure with another tweet “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!”
     
  • August 19: Trump insinuates that FDA is trying to hurt him politically through delay: “It could be a political decision because you have a lot of people over there who don’t want to rush things because they want to do it after November 3”
     
  • August 18: “Trump Dials Up Pressure for Pre-Election Vaccine, Wonders if “Deep State” Will Delay Vaccine Announcement Until November 4th”
     
  • August 17: “Trump Pushes Another COVID-19 “Miracle Cure” Hawked By His MyPillow Buddy, Housing Secretary; Watchdog Urges FDA to Stand Up to Pressure”
     
  • August 6: “Watchdog Group to FDA: Patients Need More Than Words On Vaccine Safety Assurance; Supports Health Expert Calls for Additional Transparency”
     
  • July 15: “NEW REPORT – Operation Warp Speed at Two Months: $4 Billion for Drug Companies, Zero Assurances for Patients and Taxpayers”
     
  • June 25: “New Vaccine Report Highlights Trump Administration’s Drug Company Connections, Need for Vaccine Program Transparency”
     
  • June 24: “As Dr. Fauci Expresses Hope for Vaccine By End of Year, Patients Need Assurances That Trump Pressure Won’t Corrupt Development Process”
     
  • June 8: “Watchdog Calls for Independent Patient Advocate to Audit ‘Operation Warp Speed’”
     
  • May 26: “Lack of Transparency, Conflicts of Interest Surround Trump’s “Operation Warp Speed” Vaccine Development Program”

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