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.
Trump’s tweet on Saturday said the FDA is “making it very difficult” for drug companies to commence testing vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19, implying the delay is an attempt to foil his reelection.
His message was directed at FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, although it is not immediately clear which policies the president was referring to in his tweet.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) also blasted the president for his tweet, saying that Trump’s “dangerous and unhinged conspiracy theories” are undermining the efforts of medical officials and making the pandemic response more difficult.
The president’s FDA criticism comes as the Department of Health and Human Services determined the federal agency does not have the authority to regulate lab-developed tests for any condition, including COVID-19.
Other critics chimed in on Saturday, including Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“Trump’s conspiracy theory of the moment is to accuse his own FDA of being deep state actors because they won’t recklessly rush an unsafe vaccine. Donald desperately wants his October Surprise to be a vaccine. And if more Americans die, he will just say ‘It is what is is.'”