Daily US Times: President Donald Trump is facing a persistent polling deficit and a struggling economy and has cranked up pressure on his administration’s health officials to expedite work both on a coronavirus vaccine and on treatments that might signal to voters there is an end in sight to the life-altering pandemic that has imperiled his reelection prospects.
In both his private prodding and public remarks, Trump has pushed for more good news on the current coronavirus pandemic and has insisted that even developments considered minor by health experts be expanded into major announcements for which he can claim credit.
And he’s looking to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the biggest one.
The FDA is facing one of the most critical moments in its tenure since it was founded over a hundred years ago, officials inside the organisation say the tension is palpable. A number of sources familiar with the internal workings told CNN the environment is akin to that of a pressure cooker and the responsibility feels immense. In the last week alone, Dr. Stephen Hahn, FDA Commissioner, was forced to apologize for an overhyped plasma announcement, subsequently removed a newly installed communications aide and found himself on the receiving end of criticism from the White House.
That’s a distant cry from earlier this year when Hahn wasn’t initially included on Trump’s coronavirus task force despite and the President is now pressuring for a solution to the crisis. Hahn’s name still wasn’t listed when Vice President Mike Pence added a second round of officials to the group. Five weeks later when the group was formed that Hahn was named a formal task force member.
Speeding up the vaccine timeline
In meetings focused on vaccine development throughout the spring and summer, the Republican President has consistently pressed officials to speed up their timeline for developing a vaccine. Administration officials said the President appeared intent on being able to deliver at least the solid promise of an effective vaccine by the time he faces reelection.
Those pressure efforts have only scaled up as Election Day nears, and the president has repeatedly complained that some officials at federal health agencies are actively working to stymie his reelection chances by slow-walking announcements that might project forward momentum.
Trump said about a vaccine at a Pennsylvania rally Thursday night: “It will be delivered before the end of the year, in my opinion, before the end of the year, but it really might even be delivered before the end of October.”
“How do you like that? Wouldn’t that be nice? And you know why? Not because of the election. It’d be nice because we want to save people,” he added.
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