President Donald Trump on Monday held a White House meeting to discuss the possible development of a COVID-19 vaccine with representatives of the nation’s top pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Part of the meeting was open to the press and Americans are now mocking the President for the questions he asked as he pressured medical experts to say they could produce a vaccine in a few months – not the 12-18 it will take.
This clip of Trump trying to pressure the experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the federal government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is getting a lot of attention.
At one point when the Gilead CEO starts talking about clinical trials Trump appears to suppress a yawn. In the photo above, Vice President Pence looks terrified. To his left, Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the State Department’s global AIDS director, appears to be trying to not laugh.
At one point during the meeting Dr. Fauci was forced to correct Trump on how long a vaccine will take. “Like I’ve been telling you, a year to a year and a half.”
Many are mocking the president’s astonishing lack of understanding about even the most basic concepts of vaccines and how drug tests on them are performed.
One, noted Trump critic, conservative attorney George Conway, may have done the best job:
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