Yesterday’s presser was quite something, what with miracle cures, Trump freaking out as the press starts asking questions about the 70-day delay, and Fauci not telling Trump to stuff it.
President Trump is pitching a medicine for COVID-19 sufferers that has yet to be determined effective or safe for the virus. His advocacy of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine runs counter to what his own health experts say. @APFactCheck https://t.co/JDPohGMFfK
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 6, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pitching a medicine for COVID-19 sufferers that science has not concluded is effective or safe for their use. “Take it,” he said of the drug.
For people sick with the coronavirus, he said Sunday, “It can help them but it’s not going to hurt them.” In fact, it may or may not help some people, and it may or may not hurt them.
His straight-ahead advocacy of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, is the latest and one of the most consequential examples of Trump and public-health authorities not being on the same page in the pandemic.
His statement came on a weekend when Trump also misrepresented the facts behind his firing of the intelligence community’s inspector general whose handling of a whistleblower complaint led to impeachment proceedings against the president.
Trump on why he's giving medical advice even though he's not a doctor: "What really do we have to lose? … we don't have time to go and say, 'gee, let's take a couple of years and test it out' … it doesn't kill people." (This last point re: hydroxychloroquine is not true.) pic.twitter.com/zE0aN4iSFW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 5, 2020
Currently there is a disinformation war between left and right on over-counting and under-counting COVID-19.
We were set to talk about this @sarahkliff story @KasieDC tonight — on how the US is likely undercounting its dead ⤵️ https://t.co/FOkPxx9Sfq
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) April 6, 2020
"I answered this 15 times. You don't have to answer." — Trump prevents Dr Fauci from answering a question about hydroxychloroquine pic.twitter.com/8R1K1hDsaX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2020
