Trump's Remarks in Press Briefing; August 23, 2020

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Aug 24, 2020, 07:07 AM - Edit history (2)

For the tweets by Aaron Rupar and others, see

Sun Aug 23, 2020: Various tweets about Sunday night's "press conference"

I'll post them as a reply here too.

REMARKS

Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing | August 23, 2020
Issued on: August 23, 2020

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
5:32 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. And it’s good to see you all. Hope you had a great weekend at your convention. And we’re going to have a great convention coming up, and I look forward to it.

But before I discuss a very historic breakthrough in our fight against the China virus, I’d like to provide an update on the recent wildfires in California and the storms in the Gulf of Mexico.

{snip}

On the therapeutics front, this is what I’ve been looking to do for a long time. This is a great thing. Today, I’m pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives. The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization — and that’s such a powerful term: emergency use authorization — for a treatment known as convalescent plasma. This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. It’s had an incredible rate of success.

Today’s action will dramatically expand access to this treatment. And I want to thank Dr. Hahn and Secretary Azar. I want to thank the FDA — all of the people that have been working very hard on this. It showed tremendous potential.

This is the only possible — and it’s only made possible because of Operation Warp Speed that has everybody working together. We’re years ahead of approvals. We would be — if we went by the speed levels of past administration, we’d be two years, three years behind where we are today, and that includes in vaccines that you’ll be hearing about very soon, very shortly.

To deliver treatments and vaccine to save lives, we’re removing unnecessary barriers and delays not by cutting corners, but by marshaling the full power of the federal government.

{snip}

And I just want to ask two of our people that have done such a fantastic job, Alex Azar and Stephen Hahn, to say a few words. And, Stephen, I want to thank you because the FDA really stepped up — and especially over the last few days — in getting this done. The results have been incredible, and I think you’ll see the results even go up very substantially. So we appreciate it.

And maybe I’ll ask Alex to go first, and then Stephen. Thank you very much, Alex.

SECRETARY AZAR: Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. Thanks for the bold leadership that allowed us to deliver this very happy news today.

Thanks to your all-of-America approach, America has done more than any other country to expand the arsenal that we have to battle COVID-19. And thanks to early efforts by your administration, Americans have broader access to these treatments, including convalescent plasma, than patients anywhere else in the world.

{snip}

So, thank you again, Mr. President, for supporting this remarkable progress against COVID-19. And I want to thank Dr. Hahn, Dr. Marks, and the entire team at the FDA for the speed with which they’ve approached this, the diligence to ensure that this meets the standards at FDA.

And I’ll turn it over to Dr. Hahn if that’s okay, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you very much.

Please, Doctor.

DR. HAHN: Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership. It’s good to be here today to announce FDA’s recent decision.

{snip}

And, Mr. President, thank you again.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Stephen. I appreciate it.

Okay, any questions, please? Please, go ahead.

{snip. He took questions from Fox and OAN.}

Q Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: Please, go ahead.

Q Mr. President, in announcing this today, you said that “the FDA has made the independent determination that the treatment is safe and very effective.” Yet, Dr. Hahn, just said it was showing “promising efficacy.” So which of the two is correct?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think I’ll let Dr. Hahn answer that question.

DR. HAHN: So, under our legal authority for emergency use authorization, this is not the same as an approval, but it’s an authorization. And it allows us to expand the access to this. And our data — we know we’re going to continue to collect data. We knew that for all of our E- — emergency use authorizations.

So, for example, remdesivir, which approves — was approved or authorized on May 1st, we’re still collecting data. And we will continue to do that with plasma as well.

So it’s the nuances of the language around the authorization that we use and the legal aspects, too.

Q So it’s a promising treatment; it’s not — you couldn’t say it’s very effective just yet?

DR. HAHN: So I would say that a 35 — if you’re one of those 35 out of 100 people who these data suggest or show survive as a result of it, this is pretty significant for that person and their family.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay? This is a very big day. It’s a day we’ve been looking forward to. Thank you very much. Great question. Thank you very much.

END
5:50 P.M. EDT

[Aussie105]

1. The problems with convalescent plasma:

1. The antibodies have a short life span.
The protection against further invasions of the virus doesn't come from the antibodies remaining after an original infection, but from the guardian cells ("T" cells, if I remember correctly) that are programmed to detect the virus after the first infection and can trigger massive specific antibody production.

2. You would need to collect plasma from a lot of people at the right time after they recover to get enough antibodies to treat one sick person.

3. There had better not be anything else in that plasma, be it active COVID viruses, or others, like Hepatitis, etc, etc.

Skip this one as a 'miracle' cure.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Various tweets about Sunday night's "press conference"

Sun Aug 23, 2020: Various tweets about Sunday night's "press conference"

There's no transcript yet. Meanwhile, please enjoy these tweets from Aaron Rupar.

Dear Leader Moments with Alex Azar

Link to tweet

Trump begins his August 23 briefing with some casual xenophobia

Link to tweet

Trump took a grand total of three questions -- two of them from Fox News and OAN -- before abruptly ending the press conference

Link to tweet

Here's a tweet from John Aravosis.

JoeMyGod Retweeted

The FDA literally refused to approve plasma for covid not 4 days ago. Trump, with zero scientific background, overruled the doctors at the FDA because he knows more.

https://nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/politics/blood-plasma-covid-19.html

Link to tweet

There should be mass resignations at
@US_FDA
, including
@FDAMedia
which put out the “dear leader” press release.

Link to tweet

PRESS RELEASE: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Convalescent Plasma as Potential Promising #COVID19 Treatment, Another Achievement in Administration’s Fight Against Pandemic https://fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-convalescent-plasma-potential-promising-covid-19-treatment

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Joe.My.God.: FDA Caves To Trump, Approves Convalescent Plasma

FDA Caves To Trump, Approves Convalescent Plasma
August 24, 2020 Coronavirus, Trump Administration

The New York Times reports:

{snip}

According to two sources in the Monday meeting, Peter Navarro had aggressively confronted FDA officials, saying, "You are all Deep State and you need to get on Trump Time." Navarro declined to comment.

Link to tweet

Now even the FDA has fallen. Truth, science, data, and public safety out the window. Trump re-election the goal.

Link to tweet

{snip}

AyJayDee • 2 hours ago
Point of clarification: It’s an emergency use authorization, not an approval, meaning that it’s only effective on a temporary basis and can be revoked at any time. Not to minimize the seriousness of the situation, but it’s not as strong as an approval would be.

{snip}