During his press conference on police reform in the Rose Garden, US President Donald Trump falsely claimed that there is an "AIDS vaccine", before correcting himself and saying there are "treatments" that allow HIV-positive people to "live with a pill". POTUS elaborated on the topic of vaccines, linking the fight against AIDS with ongoing work to find a cure for the coronavirus pandemic.
"They've come up with the AIDS vaccine. They have come up... or the AIDS - you know, there's various things and now various companies are involved. But the therapeutic for AIDS. AIDS was a death sentence. Now people will live a life with a pill. It's an incredible thing", Trump said.
The president's comment sparked ridicule and outrage, particularly among Twitter users, who immediately sough to enlighten the president that there is no "AIDS vaccine".
For some users, it was at first good news to see "AIDS vaccine" trending on Twitter in these gloomy times, but disappointment awaited.
However, some were more insightful and did not let their hopes rise too soon.
Some people noted that at first they thought that they had missed the historic moment of "discovering" an "AIDS vaccine".
Speaking on the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump promised that a vaccine against the coronavirus "is going to happen very soon" and in his usual style claimed that the day upon which the COVID-19 vaccine is released would be: "fantastic".
"I always say, even without it, it goes away. But if we had the vaccine, and we will, if we had therapeutic or cure, one thing sort of blends in to the other, it will be a fantastic day. I think that's going to happen and it's going to happen very soon", he reflected.
Not many people share Trump's optimism, noting that the only common thing between a vaccine against the two diseases is that they both still do not exist.
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). While there are treatments and therapeutics for the infection that allow one to live longer with the disease, there is no licensed vaccine to protect againts the HIV virus.