‘You’re Not a Doctor’: Margaret Brennan Grills Mark Meadows on White House Questioning FDA Guidelines

Margaret Brennan confronted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows Sunday over internal tensions between the White House and agencies like the FDA on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic response.

After briefly discussing the upcoming Supreme Court Senate fight on Face the Nation, Brennan brought up how several states have seen record one-day increases and asked where the infection rate will be as Election Day approaches.

“It’s hard to tell where the infection rate is going to be,” Meadows said. “But what I can tell you is the progress with vaccines has just been remarkable. We’ve had a number of conversations with not only the FDA and those that are involved in making sure that any vaccine is fully vetted and safe. But additionally, some of the clinical trials are in the very late stages of development.”

Trump claimed in a new interview with Fox News’ Pete Hegseth that “we’re rounding the turn” on the virus. But Brennan noted the concerns about hospitalizations increasing and said, “It doesn’t look like this is under control.”

Meadows said the hospitalization rate “has been a good news story” and hinted at an announcement tomorrow about “additional testing that the federal government will be providing to all the governors.”

On a vaccine specifically, Brennan brought up recent reporting about the White House’s reaction to a plan from the FDA for tougher standards for a covid vaccine. The Washington Post reported that Meadows “told [Commissioner Stephen] Hahn the agency had to provide the detailed justification for the guidance.”

‘You reportedly called the FDA commissioner and really challenged him on trying to justify doing that,” Brennan said. “You’re not a doctor. Why insert yourself politically into this, which feeds these concerns about interference?”

Meadows dismissively started by saying, “Obviously your producer didn’t do a good job of informing you of exactly what I’ve done. What we actually have is new guidance that’s coming out. My question is, why would that new guidance come out after we’ve already spent 30 billion dollars in doing that? And my challenge to the FDA is just make sure it’s based on science and real numbers.”

“Why would the FDA not be basing it on science and real numbers?” Brennan asked. “Why would you think that they’re doing that?”

You can watch above, via CBS.