Twitter Can't Get Enough of Katie Porter and Her Whiteboard
Twitter Can't Get Enough of Katie Porter and Her Whiteboard
She schooled a pharma CEO on price-gouging.
Representative Katie Porter was out doing Katie Porter things today. During a House Oversight Committee testimony, three pharmaceutical executives, including former Celgene CEO Mark Alles, answered questions about drug pricing and, unfortunately for Alles, Porter brought her whiteboard. According to The Week, Porter reminded him that a Revlimid pill (a bone marrow cancer treatment) cost $215 back in 2005 and that when he left Celgene last year, after it was sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb, a single Revlimid pill cost $763.
MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Contributor
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"Did the drug get substantially more effective in that time? Did cancer patients need fewer pills?" Porter asked. When Alles replied that Revlimid proved to be more effective in more patients, she added, "So you discovered more patients who might benefit from paying $763 a pill?"
Porter went on to dissect Alles's $13 million salary ("It's 200 times the average American's income and 360 times what the average senior makes on Social Security.") before administering a Mortal Kombat Fatality-worthy blow. "The drug didn't get any better, the cancer patients didn't get any better, you just got better at making money," she finished.
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Twitter users latched onto Porter's passion and conviction, as well as her expert use of visual aids.
If Katie Porter shows up with a whiteboard to ask you questions, she's handing you a proverbial shovel to dig yourself a hole.
— ANGRY NAVAL OFFICER🏴☠️ (@BlueGhost40_) September 30, 2020
I try to live my life in such a way that Katie Porter will never whiteboard at me. https://t.co/aXXPOYIWwq
— Waldo Jaquith (@waldojaquith) September 30, 2020
No weapon is as powerful as Katie Porter with a white board. https://t.co/yGZrgsQGaK
— Eden Dranger (@Eden_Eats) September 30, 2020
imagine trying to sneak in the house after curfew, only to see Katie Porter sitting at the dining room table with a blank whiteboard and a fresh pack of dry-erase markers
— connectpoliticditto. (@cpoliticditto) September 30, 2020
If I had a daughter I would buy her that shirt, glasses and white board and have her go as Katie Porter for Halloween. https://t.co/FBwiMNNLiL
— Peter Grosz (@petergrosz) September 30, 2020
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Others applauded her for her straightforward approach to tearing into CEOs for lining their pockets while the general public struggles to afford medication. With a background in consumer-protection law, it's not surprising that she's looking out for the general public and calling out anyone who's making money as others struggle.
Katie Porter is the Megan Rapinoe of congressional hearings. https://t.co/7vdI2lQvfZ
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) September 30, 2020
That moment you are testifying in front of congress but then see Katie Porter bring out the Whiteboard.... pic.twitter.com/Z9YLbGheky
— YS (@NYinLA2121) September 30, 2020
No one has ever wielded a weapon as terrifying as Katie Porter's whiteboard. This is just a fact. https://t.co/ASmWDvQFP9
— Molly Wood (@mollywood) September 30, 2020
This is a prime example of how corrupt big pharma is, continues to make you ill to earn a bigger buck. Katie Porter is fantastic here! https://t.co/Dd5y3cGAPa
— Joe (@hatred4lettuce) September 30, 2020
Katie Porter is a serial killer . . . of capitalist parasites. https://t.co/xpRH9Abevw
— 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 (@LTrotsky21) September 30, 2020
WE STAN KATIE PORTER FOR THIS! Get her jade! https://t.co/UuqAMZGxa7
— Nicole BLM (@nicoletti345) September 30, 2020
It’s fucking beautiful to watch someone do the thing they were meant to do. Michael Phelps’ butterfly stroke. Serena Williams’ backhand. Meryl Streep delivering a one-liner. Katie Porter making a ghoulish pharma crook shit himself. https://t.co/TnHNVlYj4j
— Lauren Hough (@laurenthehough) September 30, 2020
