The MAGA hats claim that Trump-O-Nomics is an economic godsend because the Donald is a successful businessman who knows how to make good deals. But that’s one of the most misbegotten and dangerous political cons to ever come down the pike.
A striking case in point lies in Trump’s disgraceful trumpeting this week of his deal with Pfizer’s Albert Bourla—the unindicted criminal who runs an outlaw company responsible for dispensing upwards of 5 billion poisonous mRNA shots and paying $6.1 billion of legal fines and settlements over the past two decades.
“I was honored to have Albert [Bourla here]… He’s done a fantastic job with…COVID. He did a fantastic job with a lot of things. He’s a leader. And Pfizer is right at the top.”
The “deal” actually was a complete nothing-burger that amounted to a Trumpian PR exercise run amuck. It involved Washington demanding $70 billion of Pfizer domestic investments over the next three years, which is none of Washington’s business, in return for relief from brutal import tariffs, which it had no reason to impose—plus some bells and whistles on drug pricing that are not close to what they are cracked up to be.
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