Sec. Kennedy on Prescription Drug Pricing: 'This is an extraordinary day...'

This is an extraordinary day. This is an issue that, you know, I grew up in the Democratic Party, and every major democratic leader for 20 years been making this promise to the American people. This was the fulcrum of Bernie Sanders runs for presidency, that he was going to eliminate this discrepancy between Europe and the United States. As it turns out, none of them were doing it. It's one of these promises that politicians make to their constituents, knowing that they'll never have to do it. And the reason they'll never have to do it is because they know that Congress is controlled in so many ways by the pharmaceutical industry. But he can't be bought, unlike most of the politicians in this country. And he is standing here for the American people. I don't know what, you know, there's writers like Lord Elizabeth Warren or Robert Reich or saying that President Trump is on this side of the oligarchs. There has never been a president more willing to stand up to the oligarchs than President Donald Trump. And I'm very, very proud of you, Mr. President, for your courage. I'll say, because I don't want to be crude. Your intestinal fortitude, your stiff spine, and your willingness to stand up for the American people. We have 4.2% of the world's population. Our country represents 75% of the revenues for pharmaceutical companies. President Trump is saying to our European partners is, you've got to raise the amount that you're paying for those drugs and pay for your share of the innovation that the United States is no longer subsidizing. That if the Europeans raise the price of their drugs by just 20%, that is $10 trillion that can be spent on innovation. And the health of all people, all across the globe is going to increase because we're going to have better products. I'm just so grateful to be here today. I never thought that this would happen in my lifetime.