Sunny Hostin suggested Wednesday that the black community might be more wary of a coronavirus vaccine coming from the Trump administration because of the Tuskegee experiments.
Just a few minutes into the new season’s second episode of ABC’s “The View,” Hostin quoted a friend who had responded to news of a possible vaccine by saying, “I got one word for you: Tuskegee.” (RELATED: ‘Let Me Finish!’: John Bolton Fires Back When Sunny Hostin Blames Him For Trump Remaining In Office)
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Cohost Whoopi Goldberg began by asking Hostin whether she had specific concerns about a coronavirus vaccine, especially one that was approved in the near future.
Hostin began by suggesting that the FDA might not be independent in its decision to approve such a vaccine, noting that it was part of the executive branch under the Department of Health and Human Services.
“There’s evidence that, you know, the FDA has been politicized,” Hostin added. “Are they going to make this vaccine available right before the election to make Donald Trump look good? Does Donald Trump really care about the safety of the vaccine or does he just want to make good on his promise to have the vaccine?”
Hostin went on to say that was especially concerning to her because the black community had been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic and that community certainly needed a vaccine that they could be sure was safe and effective.
“The black community are — makes up the vast majority of the frontline workers, of the essential workers. So they need the vaccine, but they are 40% less likely to take that vaccine because they don’t have trust in it,” Hostin continued. “I was actually speaking to my good friend, Floyd, black guy from law school and I said, ‘do you think you would take the vaccine if it became available?’ He said, ‘I got one word for you: Tuskegee,’ and that really, really just struck me to my core because remember, that’s 40 years of, you know, human trials on black people.”
“I don’t think the black community who needs it the most is even going to take the vaccine,” Hostin concluded.