After Trump pegs COVID-19 vaccine to the election, Fox’s Dana Perino tells HHS secretary: “I know that you’re not trying to peg it to the election”

Written by Madeline Peltz

Published

President Donald Trump said at a September 7 press conference, “We're going to have a vaccine very soon, maybe even before a very special date,” a reference to the November 3 presidential election. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has said this timeline is “unlikely.” Despite the president's comment tying a coronavirus vaccine to Election Day, Fox's “straight news” anchor Dana Perino told Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, “I know that you're not trying to peg it to the election even though Democrats will say that you are.”

From the September 8, 2020, edition of Fox News' The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino

DANA PERINO (ANCHOR): President Trump accusing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris of politicizing the race for a coronavirus vaccine and using anti-vaccine rhetoric.

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PERINO: We did hear from Dr. Anthony Fauci earlier today, he said it is unlikely that a vaccine will be available by November 3. Do you want to talk about the timing a little bit. I know that you're not trying to peg it to the election even though Democrats will say that you are, but do you know when we actually might have something that people could start taking?

ALEX AZAR (HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY): So, what do we know? We feel that it is extremely credible that we will have in the high tens of millions of doses of FDA gold standard vaccine by the end of the year thanks to this operation warp speed that President Trump has commissioned and led.