President Donald Trump got caught blatantly lying about when a coronavirus vaccine would be available when he said health experts are “close” while those same experts say that a vaccine is a year or more away.
During his trip in India, Trump boasted that the United States is “close” to developing a vaccine to put a stop to the deadly and contagious virus that has killed thousands and has infected tens of thousands.
“Now they have studied it, they know very much. In fact, we are very close to a vaccine,” Trump said, going on to claim that coronavirus is “a problem that’s going to go away.”
On Monday, the stock market suffered a 1,000 point loss wiping out all of the gains made in 2020 due to fears that the virus won’t be contained.
The combination of the outbreak and the effect it is having on markets is seriously terrifying Trump as he heads into an uphill battle to get re-elected in November. So, of course he would lie in an effort to get the public not to take the virus seriously.
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But health officials directly contradicted Trump’s claims during a closed meeting in the Senate when National Institute of Health’s Dr. Anthony Fauci confirmed that the development of a vaccine is a year or more away from becoming a reality.
Even Republican lawmakers who attended the meeting were forced to admit that a vaccine isn’t “close” as Trump says.
“The vaccine for the Coronavirus is moving more rapidly than any vaccine we have already tried to approve – but it will take a year or 18 months,” Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told CNN’s Manu Raju on Tuesday. “The way to stop [an outbreak] is quarantine and monitoring.”
Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) concurred, telling reporters that “we will not have a vaccine in the next 12 or 18 months.”
Shortly after Trump downplayed the severity of the Coronavirus and said that the spread of the virus was under control, US officials told senators that the virus was highly contagious and that a vaccine was at least 12 months-18 months away, according to three senators present
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 25, 2020
Manchin told me he asked NIH’s Tony Fauci whether they were close to a vaccine and Faucci said “no,” according to Manchin. “I guess Tony should know… It’s very contagious.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 25, 2020
Asked if the virus is under control in the US, as Trump said, Manchin said: “I did not hear that in our briefing – that everything is under control .. that’s what concerned me.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 25, 2020
Lamar Alexander said: “The vaccine for the Coronavirus is moving more rapidly than any vaccine we have already tried to approve – but it will take a year or 18 months. The way to stop (an outbreak) is quarantine and monitoring.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 25, 2020
Alexander said: “I believe it’s under control. Do I think it will spread in the United States? The advice we got today is inevitably it will spread.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 25, 2020
There were 40 senators present for the all-senators briefing, Alexander said
Senators also said there was concern that there have not been enough masks produced in the US to help prevent the spread of the virus. *Fixing words from previous thread
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 25, 2020
Clearly, the coronavirus is not “under control” and Trump is trying to manipulate the stock market after the disastrous drop on Monday. The American people should be told the truth about this virus or they will not take it seriously, ultimately causing the virus to spread further. By lying, Trump is putting American lives at risk.
Featured image via screen capture
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