Trump Said There Is an AIDS Vaccine — Trump Is Wrong

It seems that every day there's something new. Late last week the Trump administration rolled back trans rights by removing an Obama Administration Department of Health and Human Services. Then this week he gave an extremely muted response to the historic Supreme Court decision that determined LGBTQ+ workers are legally protected from discrimination by the Civil Rights Act. And now he's spreading fake news, saying there's a vaccine for AIDS.

"I deal with these incredible scientists [and] doctors very, very closely," Trump said in an address today, talking about the fight against the virus at the center of the ongoing global pandemic. He predicted a vaccine would be available by the end of this year."I have great respect for their minds and they have come up with things. They've come up with many other cures, and therapeutics over the years. These are the people, the best, the smartest, the most brilliant anywhere. And they've come up with the AIDS vaccine." He stumbles around a bit before continuing.

"As you know, there's various things and now various companies are involved but the therapeutic for AIDS... AIDS was a death sentence, and now people live a life with a pill," he continued. "It's an incredible thing."

There's a lot going on up in here today! First up: there is no publicly known vaccine for AIDS. Period. Let's just start there. Why the president of our United States of America isn't as clear on that as we are, we aren't sure. But let's just put that out there.

There are pills and treatments -- a group of them in fact -- that allow those who have contracted HIV to live long, full lives. For many, this medicine can help them to become and maintain the status of "undetectable." This means that the virus has a minimal presence in their bloodstream, so much so that they can't transmit it to others through sex.

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