Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera suggested naming the new COVID-19 vaccine in honor of President Donald Trump while appearing on “Fox & Friends” on Friday.
Amid calls for Trump to concede, Rivera suggested a name that would link the president with his administration’s efforts in bringing a suitable COVID-19 vaccine to the American people.
“With the world so divided, and everybody telling [Trump] he’s gotta give up, and time to leave, and time to transition and all the rest of it, why not name the vaccine the Trump?” Rivera said. “Make it like, ‘Have you gotten your Trump yet?’ It would be a nice gesture to him.” (RELATED: ‘Just Had Heartfelt Phone Call’: Geraldo Rivera Gives Update After Speaking Privately With President Donald Trump)
To soften the blow of defeat Fox’s Geraldo proposes naming the vaccine after Trump. “It would be a nice gesture to him and years from now it would become kind of a generic name. Have you got your trump yet, I got my trump, I’m fine. I wished we could honor him in that way.” pic.twitter.com/fM8qwFhxF6
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 20, 2020
“I wish we could honor him in that way because he is definitely the prime architect in this Operation Warp Speed,” Rivera said.
Rivera claimed that if not for Trump’s efforts “we’d still be waiting into the grim winter for these amazing miracle medical breakthroughs.”
Rivera’s comments come as Pfizer announced Wednesday its intentions to seek emergency use of their vaccine in the U.S., which was proven to be 95% effective.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the scientific head of Operation Warp Speed, said in an interview on Friday with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that given a vaccine is ready for use, the Trump administration would widely distribute it to have people immunized in 24 hours.
Last week, Trump gave a Rose Garden speech involving crucial COVID-19 vaccine updates. The president also dismissed the notion that Pfizer wasn’t a part of Operation Warp Speed, claiming the White House gave the company $1.95 million and that their efforts to distance themselves from the initiative was “unfortunate misrepresentation.”
“We will work to secure an emergency use authorization, which should be coming down extremely soon,” the president said in his remarks. “And my administration will then coordinate the distribution of the vaccine, and it will be approved, I think — again, it will be approved very, very quickly, we hope.”