President Trump on Saturday morning accused "the deep state, or whoever, over at" the Food and Drug Administration of slowing coronavirus vaccine and therapy development until after the November election to keep him from securing a second term.
There is no evidence to back up the claim. The FDA, drug companies, and researchers, on the contrary, are moving at an unprecedented pace to produce vaccines and other groundbreaking treatments in the hopes of curbing the coronavirus pandemic.
Plus, as Politico notes, Trump's accusation doesn't completely make sense in the first place, since the FDA doesn't have the authority to prevent people from enrolling in a company's drug trial.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) weighed in on the tweet, which she said was "scary" and "beyond the pale," even for Trump. Per Politico, there's already concern the FDA will approve a drug or vaccine that isn't ready to be green-lit in the hopes of satisfying the president. Tim O'Donnell