Pelosi says Trump's 'deep state' FDA tweet was 'beyond the pale'

(Image credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

published 22 August 2020

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.

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.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

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

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.