White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that President Trump’s planned announcement regarding a "breakthrough" coronavirus therapeutic Sunday evening is intended to put the “heat” on bureaucrats.
Meadows during an appearance on ABC's "This Week" also responded to the president’s tweet on Saturday accusing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of making it difficult for drug companies to test vaccines and treatments, saying Trump “is about cutting red tape.”
“That’s what the tweet was all about,” Meadows said. “And I think you’re going to hear an announcement later today which really — he had to make sure that they felt the heat. If they don’t see the light, they need to feel the heat because the American people are suffering.”
He added that Trump will put pressure on the FDA, the National Institutes of Health or “anybody else to make sure that we deliver on behalf of the American people.”
Meadows did acknowledge, however, that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn “was very right” to say the government was going to avoid cutting “any corners” on testing vaccines and treatments. ...
