WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) is facing scrutiny over his claim that $300 million worth of medications, including Zithromax, are sitting in an East African warehouse about to expire due to President Donald Trump’s foreign aid policies.
“$300 million worth of medications are sitting on pallets about to expire thanks to Trump’s effort to gut foreign aid. These drugs would’ve prevented people from going blind from a preventable tropical disease—Donald Trump would rather waste them in an East African warehouse,” Coons lied on X.
Coons stated on social media that the drugs, which are used to prevent blindness from a tropical disease, were going to waste. However, Pfizer, the manufacturer of Zithromax, indicates that the antibiotic has a shelf life of 24 months when stored properly, meaning the drugs would not be at risk of immediate expiration unless they had already been sitting unused for two years.
Worse, the photo shared by Coons is an outdated photo with an expiration date of 1/24 on the warehouse packaging.