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Ousted Health and Human Services (HHS) official Rick Bright’s testimony Thursday will have “lingering implications” for the Trump administration, “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier told “Bill Hemmer Reports.”
“I think he laid out a pretty compelling case of where he was in his job and I think that is potentially damaging for the Trump administration,” Baier said, “as he is saying they didn’t warn people and they weren’t prepared, they could have done more as far as training and preparation as far as January and February.”
Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), went before the House Energy and Commerce Committee to warn that the coronavirus pandemic will only get worse without a proper plan and blamed the Trump administration for not taking his warnings seriously.
Bright also alleged that he was removed from his position for opposing the use of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which President Trump had touted as a coronavirus treatment.
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HHS Secretary Alex Azar pushed back hard, telling reporters on the White House lawn that Bright’s accusations “do not hold water,” and that “everything he is complaining about was achieved.”
“He says he talked about the need for respirators. We procured respirators under the president’s direction. He said we need a Manhattan Project for vaccines. This president initiates a vaccine Manhattan Project, diagnostic Manhattan Project, therapeutic Manhattan Project,” Azar said, moments before departing for a trip with the president to a medical supply distributor in Pennsylvania.
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Baier said he was surprised by Azar’s pointed reaction, and compared the outburst to the now-viral moment when Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., publically slammed his Democratic colleagues during a hearing over the sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
“What Bright testified to will have lingering implications to the early stages of how this administration dealt with it.”
— Bret Baier
“He [Azar] pushed back as hard as I’ve seen,” Baier said. “It was a moment where you don’t really see anybody getting that visceral … that engaged. Usually, it’s the president who says the pointed things.”
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“That said,” Baier emphasized, “what Bright testified to will have lingering implications to the early stages of how this administration dealt with it.”
