A pair of Senate Republicans plan to nominate President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in fast-tracking the production and distribution of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., plan to introduce a resolution that would formally nominate Trump for the prize for launching Operation Warp Speed at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
The executive action saw a large-scale collaboration among multiple federal agencies and private companies to fast-track the research, development and distribution of vaccines during the pandemic, and was funded by billions from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
The lawmakers’ push comes after Trump expressed his desire to win the Peace Prize for his involvement in striking a deal between Israel and Hamas, and shortly after the prize committee passed over him. It’s also the most recent in a string of nomination pushes from congressional Republicans.
Both Cassidy and Barrasso, who were doctors before becoming legislators, lauded the massive mobilization effort and credited Operation Warp Speed for saving millions of lives during the pandemic.
‘When Americans needed a vaccine in record time to stop a once-in-a-generation pandemic, President Trump delivered,’ Cassidy said. ‘The Nobel Prize has been given for a lot less. He should receive the next one!’
Barrasso contended that Operation Warp Speed would ‘not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.’
‘He bent an infamously slow bureaucracy to his will to bring a vaccine to market in under a year. Operation Warp Speed saved millions of lives in the United States and millions more lives around the world. President Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his life-saving achievement,’ he said.
Other congressional Republicans have sought to nominate Trump for the award for varying achievements this year, including his involvement in striking a deal to see the end of the Israel-Hamas War.
And Dr. Mehmet Oz, who Trump tapped as administrator for the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services, argued the president should win the prize for Operation Warp Speed, which he called a ‘a massive success for our country.’
But their push to nominate Trump for his role in vaccine development comes after both lawmakers sparred with Human Health and Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during a Senate hearing last month following turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and questions over his stance on vaccines.
Cassidy pressed Kennedy during his appearance before the Senate Finance Committee in September, where the HHS Secretary agreed that Trump should win the prize for Operation Warp Speed.
‘Absolutely, senator,’ Kennedy said.
However, at the time, Cassidy questioned Kennedy’s actions against vaccines prior to his role as HHS Secretary — and while leading the agency — that appeared to counter his support for Operation Warp Speed.
Kennedy countered that he began litigating against former President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and not against Trump’s push with Operation Warp Speed.
‘First of all, the reason that Operation Warp Speed was genius is it did something nobody ever [had] done — I don’t think any president but President Trump could do it — it got the vaccine to market that was perfectly matched to the virus at that time,’ Kennedy said.