The head of the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday pushed back against President Donald Trump’s claim that a “deep state” is preventing the release of a coronavirus vaccine.
"I have not seen anything that I would consider to be 'deep state' at the FDA,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told Reuters. "I enjoy a very good relationship with the president and I have discussed our decisions with him, and I feel very comfortable and continue to feel comfortable with that relationship."
Trump tweeted on Saturday that “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. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”
The president appeared to direct the tweet at Hahn by tagging him in it, and Trump later retweeted an old Twitter Moments story from June about the FDA rescinding its emergency-use authorization for hydroxychloroquine, which he claimed “many doctors and studies disagree with.”