President Trump slammed coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright

Listen to this article

US President Donald Trump slammed coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright. The whistleblower says he was ousted from his role leading a federal health agency for sounding alarms regarding the response by the Trump administration. He said Trump considered him nothing more than a disgruntled employee. President said of the former director of BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), “To me, he is nothing more than a really unhappy disgruntled person. On Thursday, Bright delivered his words during a House hearing. He said lives were endangered because of the response approach of Trump administration. The White House ignored federal experts’ pandemic playbook. Trump said on the virus outbreak, “I think we’ll have a vaccine by the end of the year.”

But, Bright informed the House panel that he believes the predictions of public health experts of a vaccine in 12 months to 18 months is too optimistic. It is because such a timeline assumes all things will go correctly. But they never do. The secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar also joined Trump on the South Lawn of White House. He said, “His allegations do not hold water.” It is noteworthy that Trump pushed back on Bright’s warnings regarding a malaria drug the president has pushed as a treatment drug for Covid-19, in spite of the FDA’s warnings about the expected deadly side effects. Trump again claimed that he is getting great reports about the drug.

President Trump also made another call for states to open their economies as the banks of a post-coronavirus economic bounce to help him secure a second term. The president spoke to reporters as he left the White House for Allentown, Pennsylvania, to tour an Owens and Minor Inc. medical distribution center. He is also scheduled to deliver remarks regarding changes to the national strategic stockpile, including medical equipment and supplies. Trump administration struggled early in the Covid-19 epidemic response because that stockpile lacked enough masks, gloves, and ventilators. The US federal government was forced to purchase them, along with state and local governments.