As the 2024 Presidential primary heats up, primarily in the Republican camp between former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, DeSantis’ team has repeatedly claimed that they were to the right of the Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They commonly mention Trump’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ which played a key role in developing the Covid-19 vaccines as well as appointing Fauci to the Covid-19 Task Force that recommended lockdowns for an extended period of time during the pandemic.

A story released on Tuesday by Raheem Kassam at the National Pulse aims to set the story straight regarding Trump’s record on the pandemic.

As Kassam puts it, Trump’s original appointment of Tom Price to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services would have likely resulted in the United States’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic playing out differently.

Price was skeptical of vaccine mandates but was released from his position after Senate Democrats such as Sen. Wyden (D-Or.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wa.) cited ethics concerns.  Both Senators are major recipients of campaign dollars from big pharma.

After Price’s dismissal, Vice President Mike Pence recommended someone from Indiana who sat on the board of a big pharma organization that included members such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna, Alex Azar.

Pence and Azar went on to commandeer the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, overstepping Trump repeatedly.

The National Pulse Reports–

Alex Azar was the man Mike Pence recommended, telling Trump he could receive Senate confirmation as a replacement for Tom Price. Pence knew Azar from Indiana, where Azar had worked as the President of Lilly USA, a subsidiary of pharma giant Eli Lilly.

Curiously enough, Avalere pops up again in a quote, from another article by Amy Goldstein, in November 2017: “…he is well accepted by Democratic policy people by having good policy wonk credentials,” said Dan Mendelson of Avalere

Fawning praise by the D.C. establishment for a Trump appointee? When did that ever happen before?

Perhaps it’s because Azar was a member of the board for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a pharma industry organization which counts amongst its members: Pfizer, Regeneron, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna, amongst others.

 

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