--- title: FDA Head Won't Deny Trump 'Harmless' COVID-19 Claim description: The head of the FDA declined to criticize President Donald Trump's unfounded claim that 99% of COVID-19 cases are "totally harmless." canonical: https://time.com/5863016/fda-head-covid-19-trump-totally-harmless/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-07-05T17:55:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:57:43.867Z article:section: Politics og:title: FDA Head Declines to Defend or Deny Trump Claim That 99% of COVID-19 Cases Are 'Totally Harmless' og:description: The President's claim contradicts the existing data og:url: https://time.com/5863016/fda-head-covid-19-trump-totally-harmless/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc61707618a6f56a/698a10024ee26246b2317afa/Stephen-Hahn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5676 og:image:height: 3193 og:image:alt: Stephen Hahn og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Head Declines to Defend or Deny Trump Claim That 99% of COVID-19 Cases Are 'Totally Harmless' twitter:description: The President's claim contradicts the existing data twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc61707618a6f56a/698a10024ee26246b2317afa/Stephen-Hahn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # FDA Head Declines to Defend or Deny Trump Claim That 99% of COVID-19 Cases Are 'Totally Harmless' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dbfb2a02-ab6c-46bd-93a1-0e95ee22d41b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 5, 2020 5:55 PM UTC  Stephen Hahn, commissioner of food and drugs at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), wears a protective covering during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 30. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of food and drugs at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), wears a protective covering during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 30. AL DRAGO—Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Jul 5, 2020 5:55 PM UTC On Sunday, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined to criticize President Donald Trump’s unfounded claim that 99% of COVID-19 cases are “totally harmless.” As the United States [neared 130,000 deaths](https://time.com/5800901/coronavirus-map/) from COVID-19 this Independence Day weekend, Trump asserted at a speech yesterday that the U.S. has tested 40 million people and that [99% of cases are “harmless.”](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/05/trump-claims-99-of-us-covid-19-cases-are-totally-harmless-as-infections-surge) The President’s claim contradicts the existing data, including [estimates](https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-3012) by the [Centers for Disease Control](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.html) of the number of asymptomatic patients and evidence that this group can actively [transmit the disease](https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-1595%5Farticle#:~:text=Recent%20epidemiologic%2C%20virologic%2C,symptoms%20never%20develop%29.). But when FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn appeared on CNN’s _State of the Union_ this Sunday, he refused to contradict the President’s comment, instead urging Americans to practice social distancing and wear masks. > [](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1279803473224237056) CNN’s Dana Bash urged Hahn to address the President’s statement, expressing concern that the President’s claim could lead people to underestimate the dangers of the virus. “This is really important— probably one of the most important misclaims, or frankly lies that the President has put out there, because it really affects people’s health. If they hear the President saying, ‘99% of people are fine,’ they’re going to change their behavior, potentially get sick, infect other people. How does that make you feel as a member of his own task force?” Bash said. “I totally support the CDC and the information that they’re putting out with respect to this pandemic,” Hahn responded. “I think it’s again really important— the guidelines that we’ve emphasized, the, the data that we have. Again, it’s a rapidly evolving situation and we’re going to have more data.” When Bash pressed him a third time to address the President’s claim, Hahn declined. “I’m not going to get into who’s right and who’s wrong,” Hahn said, urging Americans to take the virus “seriously.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5863016/fda-head-covid-19-trump-totally-harmless/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5863016/fda-head-covid-19-trump-totally-harmless/"},"headline":"FDA Head Declines to Defend or Deny Trump Claim That 99% of COVID-19 Cases Are 'Totally Harmless'","datePublished":"2020-07-05T17:55:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:57:43.867Z","description":"The President's claim contradicts the existing data","url":"https://time.com/5863016/fda-head-covid-19-trump-totally-harmless/","keywords":["White House","Brief","COVID-19","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc61707618a6f56a/698a10024ee26246b2317afa/Stephen-Hahn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Law","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-law/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc61707618a6f56a/698a10024ee26246b2317afa/Stephen-Hahn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stephen Hahn","caption":"US-POLITICS-HEARING-COVID","creditText":"AL DRAGO—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5863016/fda-head-covid-19-trump-totally-harmless/","name":"FDA Head Declines to Defend or Deny Trump Claim That 99% of COVID-19 Cases Are 'Totally Harmless'"}}]}] ```