Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump slammed Martin Shkreli, founder and CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, for imposing a massive price hike on a 62-year-old drug, Daraprim.
In a press conference held in South Carolina on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Trump spent the entire day campaigning, as well as giving statements on various issues, including the latest controversies in the pharmaceutical industry.
When asked about what he thinks about Martin Shkreli, Trump said that he looks like a "spoiled brat" and that he feels as if he was "hot stuff," particularly during the start of the week when Shkreli was inclined to dig into the issues. According to the former Apprentice host, there is something about Shkreli, the way he presented the matter and the extent with which he raised it. In the end, Trump said that Shkreli is nothing, he is a zero and he has to be ashamed of himself, even describing his actions as disgraceful and disgusting.
Trump also expressed his future plans regarding "hedge fund officials" once he become president. According to him, managers like Shkreli are getting away with murder so he suggested to shoot up their taxes by eradicating the carried interest proponent in the tax code, which allows private fund officials to pay low taxes, making them richer than ever.
"And he's a hedge-fund guy, who, as you know - the only one that I'm raising taxes on," added Trump. "They are going to be paying up."
The statements made by Trump came after Fox News reporter Eric Bolling seem to have sided with Shkreli in the Sept. 22 episode of The Five. On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Trump took his disappointment to social media, as he tweeted his sentiments against the network for treating him "unfairly." With this, Trump said that he would not be appearing on any Fox shows.
.@FoxNews has been treating me very unfairly & I have therefore decided that I won't be doing any more Fox shows for the foreseeable future.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2015
Daraprim is a drug used to treat parasitic infections, which rights were sold to Shkreli's Turing Pharmaceuticals in August 2015. Shortly after the said deal, the company imposed a massive price hike amounting to about 5,000 percent, converting the previous $13.50 price tag to $750 per tablet. According to Shkreli, the decision of the company to increase the medicine's cost is to turn on the profit and give way for further drug researches.
Because of the massive public and political outrage that Turing's move caused, Shkreli has announced on Tuesday, Sept. 22 that the company will reduce the drug's price; however, the exact new cost has not been identified yet.
Photo: Gage Skidmore | Flickr
