Trump pushes for COVID-19 treatments, claims slowdown at FDA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pushing for breakthroughs in treatments for the coronavirus, White House officials suggested Sunday there were politically motivated delays by the Food and Drug Administration in approving a vaccine and therapeutics for the disease.

The accusations, the latest assault from President Donald Trump’s team on the so-called “deep state” bureaucracy, were presented without evidence and just hours before Trump was set to hold a news conference to announce an apparent advancement in therapeutics.

“This president is about cutting red tape,” said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. “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.”

The push on Sunday came a day after Trump tweeted sharp criticism on the process to treat the virus, which has killed more than 175,000 Americans and imperiled his reelection chances. The White House has sunk vast resources into an expedited process to develop a vaccine and Trump aides have been banking on it being an “October surprise” that could help the president make up ground in the polls.

“The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,” Trump tweeted. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

Trump, who has been teasing progress in therapeutics for weeks, did not offer any evidence of a slowdown. The White House has also pushed the FDA to step up its approval of blood plasma authorization. Meadows did not deal in specifics, but said “we’ve looked at a number of people that are not being as diligent as they should be in terms of getting to the bottom of it.”

“We...