Trump’s Spin on AIDS Epidemic

In his campaign rally speeches, President Donald Trump often boasts of his administration’s plan to end the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. in 10 years. It’s true he has proposed funding for that initiative, but he’s wrong to say “the previous administration spent no money” on such efforts.

In fact, the Obama administration spent about the same per year on AIDS research and prevention as the Trump administration has. And that’s only because Congress actually writes the budgets. Because while Obama routinely sought to increase funding, until this year, Trump has proposed cutting it.

The president also has falsely stated that his plan would “eradicate AIDS in America once and for all.” That’s not what ending the epidemic means, and not what his plan proposes.

During a cabinet meeting in July, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar pronounced that “it’s going to be one of President Trump’s great legacies for history … the eradication of HIV as an epidemic here in the United States.”

During speeches, Trump has made it clear that he wants credit for this historic achievement.

At a recent , for example, Trump claimed that “the previous administration spent no money on that and we’re spending a lot.”