DeLauro Condemns the President for Lying to the American People about COVID-19

DeLauro: "We have asked the President and his complicit administration to provide the nation with plans to increase the supply of PPE, to safely develop and distribute a vaccine, and to ensure regular testing, and the answers we receive are either incomplete or inadequate, or we are met with silence."

NEW HAVEN, C.T. —Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement on the President's recorded conversation with Bob Woodward in which he revealed that he knew the coronavirus pandemic situation was "deadly" and more concerning than what he had been sharing publicly:

"The President's decision to willfully mislead the American people regarding the severity of COVID-19 to avoid a ‘panic' and his abject failure to lead during this pandemic has led to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths with no end in sight. Time and again we have asked the President and his complicit administration to provide the nation with plans to increase the supply of PPE, to safely develop and distribute a vaccine, and to ensure regular testing, and the answers we receive are either incomplete or inadequate, or we are met with silence.

"Congress has provided trillions of dollars to help the American people as they struggle to keep their small businesses afloat, to provide unemployment benefits when they lost their job because of the pandemic, ensure health care providers kept their doors open, and invest in the research and development of a vaccine that will help our country get back to a more routine way of life.

"The President who knew the risk COVID-19 posed to the country is now rushing to get a vaccine out before the November 3rd election – safety and efficacy ignored. In light of Astra Zeneca's announcement that their Phase III has been put on hold indefinitely due to a suspected serious adverse reaction, we cannot rush the development of a vaccine. I applaud the pharmaceutical companies that have pledged they will not seek approval or an emergency use authorization until safety and efficacy are demonstrated through a Phase III clinical study that meets the FDA regulatory requirements.

"However, these pharmaceutical companies should not have had to make this pledge in the first place – the President should not be putting these companies in a position that would undercut the FDA's gold standard. At the end of the day, despite the significant government investment in COVID-19 vaccine candidates, the pharmaceutical companies' sole responsibility is to their shareholders. Since taxpayer funding has helped these trials get off the ground, it is imperative that Americans are assured the vaccine is safe and effective, and they know when they and their loved ones can expect to receive a vaccine."