In the critical months of 2020, as COVID-19 ravaged the United States, Donald Trump repeatedly insisted that a vaccine would be ready before the November 3 presidential election. “Maybe even before a very special date,” he teased in rallies and briefings, hinting at a miracle timed perfectly for his re-election bid.

Public health experts cringed. The development, testing, and approval of vaccines is a complex, multi-phase process that cannot be rushed without risking lives. But Trump wasn’t interested in the science—only the optics.

In reality, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine wasn’t granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA until December 11, 2020, more than a month after Election Day. The first doses were administered in the U.S. on December 14—by then, Joe Biden had won the presidency, and Trump was deep into his effort to overturn the results.

Worse, Trump accused pharmaceutical companies of intentionally delaying the release to hurt his campaign. In doing so, he undermined public confidence in the very medical breakthrough that could save millions.

Trump didn’t deliver a vaccine. Dedicated scientists, medical professionals, and clinical trial volunteers did—despite him, not because of him. His gamble on a premature rollout exposed his willingness to politicize science, gamble with lives, and gaslight a desperate public.

Why did you vote for him again in November 2024?