Trump’s ‘Deep State’ Claim Puts More Pressure On FDA; Experts Call It ‘Baseless’

CNN: Trump, Without Evidence, Accuses FDA Of Delaying Coronavirus Vaccine Trials And Pressures Agency Chief 
President Donald Trump on Saturday accused, without providing any evidence, the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately delaying coronavirus vaccine trials, pressuring the man he had picked to head the agency… He accused the agency of delaying a vaccine for the virus until after the fall election, tweeting, “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” Trump ended his tweet by tagging the Twitter account of FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, who he nominated last year to take up the role. (Stracqualursi, 8/23)

Fox News: Trump Accuses ‘Deep State’ FDA Of Thwarting Efforts For Coronavirus Treatments Until After Election
President Trump on Saturday accused the “deep state” at the Food and Drug Administration of making it hard for drug companies to test coronavirus treatments — and suggested the agency is trying to delay them until after Election Day. “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,” he tweeted. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” (Shaw, 8/23)

Axios: Trump Echoes Peter Navarro’s “Deep State” Rhetoric About The FDA
Senior health officials in the Trump administration were taken aback last Monday when the president’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, accused them of being part of the “Deep State” during a meeting that was supposed to be about COVID-19 and the Strategic National Stockpile. Why it matters: Five days after Navarro’s private comments toward the FDA, the president echoed Navarro’s sentiments with a pair of Saturday morning tweets and tagged Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration. (Swan, 8/23)

AP: AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s Baseless Claim Of ‘Deep State’ At FDA
President Donald Trump is leveling unfounded attacks on his Food and Drug Administration and distorting the science on effective treatments for COVID-19. Heading this week into the Republican National Convention, he asserted that the agency is slow-walking vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus in a bid to undermine his November reelection effort. There’s no evidence of that, and one of his former FDA commissioners on Sunday rejected the accusation as groundless. (Yen and Woodward, 8/23)

The Hill: Pelosi Hammers Trump For ‘Very Dangerous’ Attack On FDA 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) bashed President Trump on Saturday after he urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the approval of coronavirus treatments, warning that the president was undermining public safety to help his reelection.”The FDA has a responsibility to approve drugs, judging on their safety and their efficacy, not by a declaration from the White House about speed and politicizing the FDA,” Pelosi said during a rare Saturday press briefing in the Capitol. (Lillis, 8/22)

The Hill: Democrats Tear Into Trump’s ‘Deep State’ Tweet: His ‘Lies And Recklessness’ Have ‘Killed People’
Democrats came after President Trump on Saturday after he called the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the “deep state,” with one critic saying the president’s “lies and recklessness” have “killed people.” “Since the start of the pandemic I have repeatedly called on the FDA to follow science and data alone in approving covid treatments and … reject trump’s dangerous ‘miracle’ cures,” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) tweeted on Saturday in response to Trump. (Deese, 8/22)

Politico: Trump Wants FDA To ‘Feel The Heat,’ Chief Of Staff Says 
The president’s claim that the FDA is delaying clinical trials for the coronavirus vaccine for political reasons is his way of making some at the agency “feel the heat” and push forward, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday. President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the “deep state” at the Food and Drug Administration “is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics.” (Bice, 8/23)

Stat: Drug Firms Rebut Trump Tweet That FDA Delaying Covid-19 Vaccines 
In a tweet Saturday morning, President Donald Trump accused the Food and Drug Administration of delaying the development of coronavirus vaccines and drugs. “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,” the president wrote.  “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” (Herper and Florko, 8/22)

The Washington Post: The Tweet Represents A New Target In The President’s Ongoing Attacks On Administration Scientists 
President Trump on Saturday baselessly accused the Food and Drug Administration of impeding enrollment in clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics for political reasons, as he broadened and escalated his attacks on administration scientists. “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,” he said on Twitter. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!” He tagged FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in the tweet. (McGinley, Johnson and Dawsey, 8/22)

The Hill: Trump Administration Bars FDA Review Of Some Coronavirus Tests 
The Trump administration will allow coronavirus tests developed by individual laboratories to be used without Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, the administration announced Wednesday. Officials told Politico and The Washington Post that the decision came after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined the FDA does not have the authority to regulate lab-developed tests for any condition, including COVID-19. (Moreno, 8/21)