The View panelist Joy Behar, 77, does not believe President Donald Trump when he claimed at a Sept. 8 rally that a COVID-19 vaccine would be ready “very soon,” and perhaps before for the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election. His rhetoric came despite most major pharmaceutical companies saying they still need to do far more advanced clinical trials on human subjects before going to the FDA for approval of such a vaccine. Joy called on First Daughter and Trump Senior Advisor Ivanka Trump, 38, to take whatever vaccine is put forth to prove that it is safe and effective and not a campaign ploy. Now Ivanka is up for the challenge and said she’d be willing to come on The View and take any vaccine that her dad’s FDA trusts, as the executive branch oversees the Food and Drug Administration.
On the Sept. 8 The View, Lead panelist Whoopi Goldberg mentioned how a major COVID-19 vaccine trial was just halted over alleged adverse effects on human test subjects. Then she noted how Trump at Winston-Salem, North Carolina political rally on Sept. 8 pledged that a vaccine was just around the corner. A clip played that showed Trump telling the audience, “Under Operation Warp Speed, we’re producing a vaccine in record time. This is a vaccine we’re going to have soon, very very soon. By the end of the year, but much sooner than that perhaps.” Whoopi then explained that “a joint statement from nine pharmaceutical company CEO’s said they would not seek FDA approval until advanced clinical trials prove a vaccine is safe and effective.”
Joy started by pointing out how the mumps vaccine took four years to develop and the polio vaccine took 20 years. She then tore into Trump, saying “He will push anything to get reelected. Don’t fall for it. And by the way, I will take the vaccine after Ivanka takes it.” Her dare towards Ivanka left the rest of the panel speechless.
The former fashion designer tweeted out on Sept. 10, “Deal @JoyVBehar. I would come on your show to do so. I trust the FDA and so should all Americans. Vanquishing this virus should be our collective top priority.” So Ivanka is up for taking whatever vaccine the FDA approves. The president previously claimed in June that a vaccine for COVID-19 would be ready by the end of 2020, but at the same news conference he falsely noted that doctors had already successfully developed a vaccine for AIDS, which is a lie.
Trump’s Democratic opponent Joe Biden has said he didn’t trust a Team Trump vaccine and that scientists need to do their hard work. “I would want to see what the scientists said” about any vaccine, and “I want full transparency,” the 77-yer-old told reporters on Sept. 7. Biden then hit out at Trump, saying, “He’s said so many things that aren’t true, I’m worried that if we do have a really good vaccine, people are going to be reluctant to take it. He’s undermined public confidence.” But Biden added that, “If I could get a vaccine tomorrow, I’d do it. If it cost me the election, I’d do it. We need the vaccine, we need it now.”
He doubled down later that day during a virtual chat with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations that he’d take the vaccine, “Only if it was completely transparent that other experts in the country could look at it. Only if we knew all of what went into it. Because so far, nothing he’s told us has been true,” referring to Trump.
