Coronavirus USA Updates: Trump, with Azar beside him, attacks Bright over House testimony

As he departed for Pennsylvania Thursday, President Trump, with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar by his side, said he watched some of Bright’s testimony but dismissed his accusations and attacked his character.

“I watched this guy for a little while this morning. To me, he is nothing more than a really disgruntled, unhappy person,” Trump said of Bright. “There are a lot of people that do not like the job he’s in. I don’t know him, I never met him, I don’t want to meet him, but I watched him, and he looks like an angry, disgruntled employee who, frankly, according to some people, didn’t do a very good job.”

Azar, Bright’s former superior, also blasted the federal employee to reporters.

“Everything he’s complaining about was achieved. Everything he talked about was done,” Azar said. “Oh, and, by the way, whose job was it to actually lead the development of vaccines? Dr. Bright. So, while we’re launching Operation Warp Speed, he’s not showing up for work to be part of that. So, this is like somebody who was in a choir and is now trying to say he was a soloist back then.”

While the secretary implied Bright wasn’t putting in the work, Bright said moments before that he was removed from meetings after voicing his concerns.

“I was told that my urgings were causing a commotion and I was removed from those meetings,” Bright said earlier.

“His allegations do not hold water. They do not hold water,” Azar continued. “He looks like an angry, disgruntled employee who, frankly, according to some people, didn’t do a very good job.”

Trump once again touted the drug hydroxychloroquine, citing anecdotal evidence, while Bright continues to stress to House lawmakers his concerns with the drug, noting it is still unproven effective to treat COVID-19 patients.

“We have had some great response in terms of doctors writing letters, and people calling on the hydroxychloroquine. And this guy is fighting it. No reason to fight it. There’s no reason,” Trump said before boarding Marine One. “But more importantly than that, we have had tremendous response to the hydroxy. We’re having great response along with it, and the Z-Pak. So a lot of people have sworn by it.”