Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Wednesday said President Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for rapidly distributing the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
“President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed,” Cassidy said in a Wednesday statement on X.
His comment comes hours after Bourla said Trump saved 14 million lives globally by implementing Operation Warp Speed, a joint effort between the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Operation Warp Speed restored consumer confidence, saved over $1 trillion in health care costs due to reductions in serious illness and avoidance of hospitalizations, and rapidly scaled up domestic production,” Bourla wrote in a Wednesday statement.
“This American leadership also delivered a new platform that may drive significant innovation in cancer research. Such an accomplishment would typically be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, given its significant impact,” he added.
Bourla’s statement comes a day after Trump demanded drugmakers “justify” the success of their treatments for COVID-19 amid turmoil in his administration over vaccines and other health issues.
“It is very important that the Drug Companies justify the success of their various Covid Drugs. Many people think they are a miracle that saved Millions of lives. Others disagree!” the president said in a Labor Day post on Truth Social.
Moderna, which developed a COVID-19 vaccine and may have been a target of the president’s Labor Day post, on Wednesday published a statement lauding Trump for helping to “end the COVID-19 pandemic, re-open economies and save millions of lives.”
In recent months, Trump has pushed for recognition from his peers in the form of a Nobel Peace Prize.
Pakistan has suggested that Trump receive a peace prize for his intervention in a conflict between the country and India.
In late August, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the president deserved an award for cracking down on crime in Washington.
