Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is sharing what former President Donald Trump told him leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
During clips from âThe Carlos Watson Showâ provided exclusively to The Hill in advance, Watson asked Bourla what his experience was with Trump as the former president was facing pressure himself to push out a vaccine.
âThe president was calling me and he was making very clear what he would like to see sooner rather than later but never pressed me to do something that would be inappropriate with a vaccine,â Bourla said.
Asking Bourla how much pressure he faced to âget it done,â the Pfizer CEO replied, âIn the few times that he was telling me that we need to do it fast â first he would say, âWe need to do it quickly; people are dying,â and then also he would add, âOf course it will help me also in the election, but people is the important thing.ââ
Watch the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgJMSPwiyog
Bourla insisted he made it clear to Trump and the Biden campaign the company would âmove with the speed of science.â
He stressed he wanted to do it âquicklyâ but the important thing for him was âthe pressure of the billions of people that suddenly had invested their entire hopes on us, and we had to deliver.â
When talking about the rollout of the vaccine, Bourla explained, âI was not happy with the speed as all Americans as all citizens of the world. It happened not because everybody was incompetent, it was because itâs very complicated.â
Biden announced on Tuesday he would be moving up the eligibility date of the vaccine to April 19.
