Just about everyone felt relieved over pharma company Pfizer’s announcement that it had a vaccine for the coronavirus that is more than 90% effective. Self-absorbed conspiracy theorist Donald J. Trump is not one of those people, unfortunately. Instead of being overjoyed over the announcement, the president flew into a rage because of the timing. It’s all about him, not the American people suffering through the pandemic.
The Washington Post reported that instead of celebrating the announcement, he lashed out at the Food and Drug Administration, convinced the timing — six days after Election Day — proves the “medical deep state” deliberately tried to sabotage his electoral prospects by delaying the results.
After hearing the news, the president, according to what a senior White House official told the news outlet, demanded that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar “get to the bottom” of what happened with Pfizer.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn was the target of Trump’s wrath as the president reportedly was “screaming at him” about the Pfizer announcement.
Although there is no evidence that Pfizer withheld data or did not report it as soon as it was available, a White House official said without evidence that Pfizer “either knew the data and sat on it, or intentionally did not review it as originally planned, in order to push it beyond the election for political purposes.”
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As the newspaper notes, Pfizer did not have access to the data until the Sunday after the election and could not have known the results before that time.
Over two hundred and fifty-seven thousand Americans have died from COVID-19, and ten million people in the United States have contracted the disease on Trump’s watch. That’s quite a body count, but the president lacks the empathy gene.
Instead of battling the pandemic, Trump surrendered without putting up a fight. It’s almost as if this president was on COVID’s side of the war since he mocked wearing protective face masks, social distancing guidelines, and held super-spreader rallies. And yet, somehow, Trump thinks he deserves another four years in office. This is an absolute disgrace, which speaks volumes for the people who voted to keep that raging narcissist in office.
Featured image: DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos
