Last summer, former Vice President Joe Biden said on the campaign trail that his administration would prioritize cancer research and the search for a cure.
Donald Trump Jr., at a later campaign rally for his father, mocked Biden for supposedly insinuating that his administration would cure cancer.
But in a tweet on Thursday, President Donald Trump implied that his administration was responsible for the lowest cancer death rate in history.
While Trump is correct that lowered cancer deaths are undoubtedly good news, he's incorrect to imply that it was a product of his administration.
Who corrected him on this? None other than Gary M. Reedy, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.
Reedy said in a statement:
"Since taking office, the president has signed multiple spending bills that have included increases in funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute -- though the impact of those increases are not reflected in the data contained in this report. The administration has an opportunity to significantly impact future declines in both cancer incidence and mortality by increasing access to comprehensive health care, supporting robust and sustained increases in federal funding for cancer research and passing and implementing evidence-based tobacco control policies."
The Trump administration's proposed cuts to the National Institute of Health actually would've resulted in reduced funds for the National Cancer Institute.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) pointed this out.
People weren't surprised that Trump claimed to have lowered cancer deaths, but that didn't stop them from calling him out.
What a mess.
