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United States President Donald Trump has promised to return pharmaceutical manufacturing to the United States, as he promised to put “America first” during a visit to the factory on Thursday.
Speaking to workers at a Pennsylvania medical distribution facility, Trump said he would bring “manufacturing and jobs back home where they belong.”
“My goal is to produce everything the United States needs for us and then export it to the world. This includes pharmaceuticals, “he said. “Too dependent on other countries. I’ve been saying it for a long time. . . We have to take care of the United States first. “
Standing under an American flag, Trump said his administration believes in “two beautiful rules: buy American and hire American.”
Trump spoke during a visit to the factory that produces and distributes medical devices in Allentown.
Pennsylvania, which voted for Trump in the 2016 election, is likely to be a key state on the battlefield in the November presidential election.
Trump has argued in recent weeks that supply chains should be returned to the United States as the Covid-19 pandemic has shed light on the United States’ dependence on other countries for pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
In addition to China, the President has recently referred to Ireland as a producer of goods that are transported to the United States.
Noting Pennsylvania’s role in American manufacturing in the 20th century, Trump said: “We are reclaiming our heritage as a manufacturer nation.”
“We will build our glorious future with American hands, American courage, and American pride.”
Rick Bright, former director of the Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority (left) after a hearing by the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce in Washington DC on Thursday. Photography: Greg Nash / The Hill / Bloomberg
Without mask
Trump, who was one of the only officials not to wear a face mask during his tour of the facility, also asked the state’s Democratic governor to begin lifting the Covid-19 restrictions in Pennsylvania, claiming that some parts of the state were not affected by coronavirus.
Previously, the president responded to claims by the former head of a government health agency that the United States’ response to the pandemic was undermined by a lack of strategy,
Dr. Rick Bright was the head of the Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority before the Trump administration removed him from office last month.
Addressing Congress on Thursday, Dr. Bright highlighted a litany of federal government failures in the early days of the pandemic.
“It is painfully clear that we were not as prepared as we should have been. We missed the first warning signs and forgot the important pages of our pandemic playbook, ”he said.
But he also warned that 2020 “could be the darkest winter in modern history.”
“Our window of opportunity closes if we fail to develop a science-based, coordinated national response. I am afraid the pandemic will worsen and linger, causing unprecedented illness and death, “he told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Not holding
The virologist also ruled out the possibility that a vaccine would be ready within 18 months. “Twelve to 18 months is an aggressive schedule, and I think it will take longer than that,” he said under questioning.
Speaking while leaving Washington to visit a medical distribution center in Pennsylvania, Trump dismissed Dr. Bright as “nothing more than a truly unhappy and unhappy person.”
“There are a lot of people who don’t like the work he did,” he said. “He seems like an angry and unhappy employee who, frankly, according to several people, did not do a very good job.”
Health and human services secretary Alex Azar, who accompanied Trump on the trip, said Dr. Bright’s accusations “do not hold back water.”
“Everything he complained about was accomplished. Everything he talked about was done,” noting the government’s acquisition of respirators and equipment storage.
Mr. Bright “literally signed the application for an FDA authorization” for hydroxychloroquine, Mr. Azar alleged, referring to the antimalarial drug promoted by Mr. Trump as a possible treatment for the coronavirus.
Fauci’s Review
Trump’s comments were the latest sign of disagreement between the president and career medical professionals as the United States struggles to emerge from the pandemic that has cost nearly 85,000 lives in the country.
Trump publicly criticized White House task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci this week for wanting to “play all sides of the equation” by suggesting that a vaccine would not be ready before schools and universities return for the fall term.
He said Dr. Fauci’s response to a Senate committee on the issue “was not an acceptable response.” Trump has argued that schools should reopen, with exceptions for older teachers with medical conditions.
FBI investigation
Meanwhile, high-profile Republican Senator Richard Burr announced that he would temporarily resign as chairman of the Senate intelligence committee amid an FBI investigation into his stock sale in February before the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic was known. in the U.S.
The FBI confiscated phone records and other documents belonging to the North Carolina senator on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a possible insider case.
Burr is one of several members of Congress who have examined his personal investment decisions. Investigators are examining whether the senators sold shares based on classified reports they were receiving at a time when Trump was minimizing the impact of the virus.
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