Good Thursday morning.
Here’s what is on the president’s agenda today:
- 5:00PM Members of the Coronavirus Task Force hold a press briefing
Start your engines: WE HAVE CORONAVIRUS WHISTLEBLOWER #1
No doubt the first among many. Same playbook.
We have a whistleblower, a Dr. Rick Bright who was the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Bright claims that he was “fired” from his job because of his skepticism and opinions on the use hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin to treat the Chinese virus.
Now the resistance media and Democrats are rooting against a possible treatment for the virus because they want our country to stay shut down, sick and panicked and also because the President has repeatedly said he is hopeful that this drug might work to save people. Ask yourself how deranged it is to hope for the failure of a life-saving treatment ONLY BECAUSE the president has indicated his optimism. It’s sick. These people are sick.
Hydroxychloroquine, I remind you, is a drug that has been in use for decades, it is currently used regularly for malaria but also for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. After feeble attempts by the Left to discredit the promise of the drug, attempts that included the bogus claim Trump had a financial interest in the decades old generic drug and then dismissing and discrediting small studies indicating its efficacy, they now have rustled up a “whistleblower” who was for hydroxychloroquine before his was against it.
Bright’s says he was transferred because he wanted the administration to “invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit.”
“Specifically, and contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit,” the complaint reads.
But wait…according to the tabloid, Politico:
Three people with knowledge of HHS’ recent acquisition of tens of millions of doses of those drugs said that Bright had supported those acquisitions in internal communications, with one official saying that Bright praised the move as a win for the health department as part of an email exchange that was first reported by Reuters last week, although Bright’s message was not publicly reported.
“If Bright opposed hydroxychloroquine, he certainly didn’t make that clear from his email — quite the opposite,” said the official, who has seen copies of the email exchanges.
Oh wow, really?
“As it relates to chloroquine, it was Dr. Bright who requested an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for donations of chloroquine that Bayer and Sandoz recently made to the Strategic National Stockpile for use on COVID-19 patients,” HHS spokesperson Caitlin Oakley said. “The EUA is what made the donated product available for use in combating COVID-19.”
“BARDA was not as responsive during the crisis” as it could have been, said one former official. “Rather than prioritizing therapeutics that could be available in weeks, Bright focused on products that would take weeks or months.” For instance, BARDA didn’t make what’s known as a broad agency announcement to solicit potential investments in diagnostics, vaccines or treatments until March, five weeks after HHS Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency over the Covid-19 outbreak.
And even more, “The move was more than a year in the making — Bright had clashed with department leaders about his decisions and the scope of his authority — but came abruptly, said five current and former HHS officials.”
And wouldn’t you just know it, Dr. Bright has lawyers, he is “represented by the law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks — whose famous clients included Christine Blasey Ford, who accused future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 2018.” OK, I’m done here. DONEZO.
When asked about Dr. Bright at the Wednesday press conference Trump responded, “I never heard of him. The guy says he was pushed out of a job, maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. You’d have to hear the other side.”
Coronavirus news:
Go back to November. California governor orders autopsies back to December to find out how long coronavirus has been in the state
The White House Just Released The Immigration Ban. Here’s What’s Inside
Analysis: Less than 10 Percent of Immigration Affected by Trump Order
Be careful how you clean in the fight against coronavirus, CDC says
As doctors see coronavirus-kidney link, worry grows over dialysis machines
2 cats in NY become first US pets to test positive for virus
8 big cats have tested positive for coronavirus at the Bronx Zoo
Nearly all Covid-19 patients put on ventilators in New York’s largest health system died, study finds
Uh oh. What if it works? New York researcher says preliminary results of hydroxychloroquine study are ready, but state hasn’t released them
Coronavirus takes toll on restaurants, as owners question if it’s worth the red ink
Coronavirus patients to get nicotine patches in French study on smoking’s effects
MERS epidemic in 2015 prepared country: How South Korea has tackled coronavirus outbreak
AOC suggests low-income Americans should boycott work after coronavirus shutdown ends
TEAM CAROLYN! Las Vegas mayor wants COVID-19 restrictions lifted, faces widespread national criticism
Nevada governor responds to Las Vegas mayor’s remarks
Al Gore endorses Joe Biden for president, calls Trump ‘face of climate-change denial globally’
Possible coronavirus vaccine enters human testing trial
CDC chief Redfield ‘misquoted’ on ‘fall coronavirus outbreak,’ Trump says
Now Chris Cuomo’s teenage son Mario has coronavirus
Trump sending hospital bailout funds for virus hot spots, uninsured patients
Ralph Northam’s Office Blasts ‘Lies’ Claiming He Traveled To North Carolina In Violation Of Stay-At-Home Order
Trump says coronavirus ‘may not come back at all’
Coronavirus oversight lags as trillions in relief head out the door
Political divide on reopening deepens as Southern states move forward
Maryland governor says he will unveil plan Friday to begin easing restrictions
Pompeo: U.S. calls on China to permanently close wildlife wet markets
Top U.S. Senate Republican says aid for states needs to focus on coronavirus
McConnell says Senate ‘not interested’ in sending money to states trying to ‘take advantage’ of coronavirus
Washington state to implement ‘rapid-response’ contact tracing workforce in May
Massachusetts death toll in pandemic surges past 2,000, doubles in just 1 week
Houston ‘pop-up’ hospital costing $17M may be dismantled over lack of use, reports say
Trump says it is “too soon” for Georgia to reopen its economy
Ellen Barkin: ‘Trump Is Responsible for More Deaths than Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon’
Harvard Backs Down: University Says It Will Not Take Coronavirus Aid
Reports Indicate Coronavirus Boom in Northern China, Beijing
Here’s why we didn’t have coronavirus testing in February
Other morsels:
Poll signals strengthening support for Biden over Trump in three Midwest battleground states
Trump says military’s Blue Angels, Thunderbirds will perform over cities. Not all are thrilled
And that’s all I’ve got, now go beat back the Chinese virus!