Ben Carson: Trump 'Saved My Life'

The Trump administration official talks about his battle with COVID-19
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 21, 2020 11:50 AM CST
Ben Carson: Trump 'Saved My Life'
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson holds up a face mask during a Make America Great Again event in Carter Lake, Iowa, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020.   (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Ben Carson didn't just get COVID-19—he got it bad, and says he only survived thanks to help from President Trump. "I was extremely sick," the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development writes on Facebook, per NPR. While his symptoms were light at first, he says, he fell "desperately ill" thanks in part to "several co-morbidities." He adds that Trump "was following my condition and cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received, which I am convinced saved my life." Trump said in October he recovered after receiving antibody treatments from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. CNN notes that it's "unclear" how Trump could have approved Carson for such a treatment, which the AP calls "unapproved" and "experimental."

"While I am blessed to have the best medical care in the world (and I am convinced it saved my life), we must prioritize getting comparable treatments and care to everyone as soon as possible," writes Carson. "There are a number of promising treatments that need to be tested, approved, and distributed (sooner rather than later) so that the economy can be re-opened and we can all return to a semblance of normalcy." He notes that "defined steps" must be "legally" taken before vaccines are released, and "trying to cause alarm by saying dangerous shortcuts were taken only serves to stoke fear. Together we will be victorious." (Someone very close to Trump just tested positive.)

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