Ivanka Trump Tells 'The View' Co-Host Joy Behar She'll 'Trust the FDA' With Coronavirus Vaccine

Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and top White House adviser, said on Thursday she [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and top White House adviser, said on Thursday she would take a coronavirus vaccine on The View and she trusts the Food and Drug Administration. Trump's tweet came after The View co-host Joy Behar accused President Trump of pushing for a coronavirus vaccine to be developed by November to get re-elected. Behar said she would only take a vaccine after Trump took it.

During Wednesday's episode of The View, Behar noted how long it took to develop safe vaccines, pointing out that it took time to discover one for mumps, polio, and smallpox. "As far as the vaccine is concerned, I'd like to inform America — in case we don't know this because I looked all this up for you — the mumps vaccine took four years, the polio vaccine took 20 years, and the smallpox vaccine took a few centuries," Behar told viewers. "It was developed initially in 1796 when they started to think about it, and it became useful in the 1950s. OK?"

Behar noted that developing a vaccine is "not a simple thing to do." She warned, "He will push anything to get reelected. Don't fall for it, and by the way, I will take the vaccine after Ivanka takes it." Trump accepted the challenge. "Deal [Behar]. I would come on your show to do so," she tweeted. "I trust the FDA and so should all Americans. Vanquishing this virus should be our collective top priority."

Behar's comments came after Trump said his administration is "producing a vaccine in record time" under Operation Warp Speed. "This is a vaccine that we're going to have very soon, very, very soon. By the end of the year, but much sooner than that perhaps," Trump said, reports The Hill. On the same day, Trump made that comment, AstraZeneca paused work on a phase three trial after a participant came down with a "potentially unexplained illness." Pfizer and Moderna are also working on vaccines.

As part of Operation Warp Speed, the Department of Health & Human Services has doled out millions of dollars to pharmaceutical companies to test potential vaccines, with the goal of finding a safe and effective one by January. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top disease expert, told The New Yorker her "never liked" the idea of calling it "Operation Warp Speed" because it "suggests, incorrectly, that you're rushing things" and Americans might be skeptical. He said the speed in the name really refers to reducing financial risk. "If a vaccine doesn't work, you've lost a few hundred million dollars," he explained. "If it does work, if it's safe and effective, you've saved four, five, six months of waiting to get people the vaccine. That's huge."

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