Trump on ‘Race-Based Medicine’ for COVID-19
At a rally in Arizona on Jan. 15, former President Donald Trump waded into the debate over state policies allowing health systems to consider race as a risk factor when prioritizing the allocation of limited supplies of some COVID-19 therapeutics. According to Trump, it translates to white people being denied life-saving medicines and vaccines.
“The left is now rationing live-saving therapeutics based on race, discriminating against and denigrating, just denigrating, white people to determine who lives and who dies,” Trump said. “If you’re white, you don’t get the vaccine or if you’re white, you don’t get therapeutics.”
For starters, no one is being denied access to vaccines. The White House has made clear it has enough vaccine doses available to get every American fully vaccinated, including a booster shot.
The issue, but there is no evidence that white people are being denied COVID-19 therapeutics, either. Still, Trump accused New York state of discriminating against white people, saying its prioritization policy for COVID-19 treatment during times of limited resources is “anti-American.”
