FDA Commissioner Refuses to Defend Trump COVID-19 Cases Claim

“I’m not going to get into who is right and who is wrong,” Dr. Stephen Hahn, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

During his remarks Saturday at the White House Independence Day event, Trump claimed without evidence that 99% of coronavirus cases “are totally harmless.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35% of cases are asymptomatic, but even people with mild or no symptoms can spread the virus to others.

While the World Health Organization has said the global fatality rate is likely less than 1%, the WHO also said about 20% of all people who are diagnosed with coronavirus are sick enough to need oxygen or hospital care.

“I totally support the CDC and the information that they’re putting out with respect to this pandemic,” Hahn said Sunday.

Hahn said the coronavirus pandemic is “a rapidly evolving situation” but stressed that the US “absolutely must take this seriously.”

Pressed by Bash on the program whether Trump's comment is true or false, Hahn again did not defend Trump's claim.

“What I’ll say is that we have data in the White House task force. Those data show us that this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously,” Hahn said.

There have been more than 2.8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 129,000 people in the US have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s latest tally.

Trump celebrated the Fourth of July at Mount Rushmore on Friday and at the White House’s “Salute to America” on Saturday, where many attendees were seen neither socially distancing nor wearing masks at both events.

“if you don’t follow local and state guidelines about what to do, if you’re not following the CDC and White House task force guidelines, you are putting yourselves and you’re putting your loved ones at risk,” Hahn said.

Asked if he was uncomfortable by the President holding those events that put Americans at risk, Hahn said the circumstances are different.

“I think in terms of that specific instance at the White House, it’s important for everyone to remember that it’s a different set of circumstances. People are tested regularly. The President is tested regularly,” Hahn said.

Hahn was also questioned about Trump's recent doubling down in a Fox Business interview of his belief that coronavirus will “sort of just disappear.”

“No, we’re seeing the surge in cases, particularly across the Sun Belt. And so this virus is still with us,” the FDA commissioner said.