What Trump has done to lower the ‘RIPOFF DRUG PRICES’ he’s decrying
President Donald Trump blasted Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier on Monday morning after Frazier announced he was leaving the President’s manufacturing council following Trump’s equivocal response to the neo-Nazi and white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trump tweeted: “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”
But Trump’s shot at the pharma CEO about lowering drug prices is in stark contrast to what he has done himself on this front.
In March, Democratic Representatives Elijah Cummings (MD) and Peter Welch (VT) met with Trump to discuss their bill that would help lower prescription drug prices by allowing regulated drug importation and Medicare’s ability to negotiate wholesale prices for wholesale drugs, instead of retail prices.
“On the campaign trail, he said he was all for it. In the Oval Office, he said he was all for it,” Welch told Yahoo Finance. “Fast forward to today, and he has provided zero relief to Americans struggling to pay for their medicine.”
In the spring, the two Members of Congress came away from their meetings in the White House with the feeling that Trump had understood the issues as a negotiator and dealmaker.
“Listening to him talk about the ripoffs and drug prices made me convinced he takes it seriously,” Welch told Yahoo Finance at the time.
Since then, nothing has changed, said Welch. “He is not holding up the bargain. This is unacceptable and we need to hold his feet to the fire.”
Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Got a tip? Send it totips@yahoo-inc.com.
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