Nancy Pelosi Slams Donald Trump’s Claim That ‘Deep State’ Is Responsible For Delayed Coronavirus Vaccine

While speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Donald Trump’s claim that the “deep state” purportedly within the Food and Drug Administration is slowing down the development of a coronavirus vaccine, The Guardian reported

“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,” she said.

Pelosi called Trump’s suggestion “dangerous,” and said that the president, not the government, is the one attempting to politicize the pandemic.

“Even for him, it went beyond the pale in terms of how he would jeopardize the health and well-being of the American people,” she said.

Pelosi has been a longtime critic of Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Back in March, she accused the president of inaction as Americans succumbed to the virus. She also claimed that Trump’s early denial of the severity of the crisis cost American lives.

.@SpeakerPelosi described Trump’s comments as “scary” after he suggested, without evidence, that employees at the @US_FDA are attempting to sabotage his re-election campaign by slowing down research on #coronavirus treatments pic.twitter.com/NjCl3IjHnk

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) August 22, 2020

As reported by Forbes, Trump made the controversial comments on the deep state on Twitter on Saturday.

“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. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

Per Reuters, Trump has taken aim at federal agencies via Twitter on numerous occasions. On some occasions, he accuses these agencies of being guided by deep state agents, referring to the theory that political operatives are serving in government to undermine his presidency.

Most recently, Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs pushed the deep state theory to explain the arrest of Trump’s former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who has also promoted the hypothesis.

According to Reuters, worries are swirling around the possibility that Trump will pressure the FDA to approve a COVID-19 vaccine even in the absence of sufficient research supporting the move.

Trump previously suggested that a vaccine could be ready by Election Day. As The Inquisitr reported, the president’s comment came as Moderna moved into phase 3 clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273. The drug has shown promise in two small-scale clinical trials, and both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have expressed optimism about the widespread release of the product in the coming months.

The FDA and National Institutes of Health are currently working with drug manufacturers to push out a preventative as soon as possible. As of Saturday afternoon, over 176,000 Americans have died from the virus in the U.S.