President Donald Trump continued to tout anti-malarial drug chloroquine as a coronavirus treatment on Monday by claiming that he has been taking it himself.
There are documented deaths of people who have taken hydroxychloroquine after listening to Trump promoting the drug. Multiple studies have shown that it’s dangerous and actually does little to nothing to benefit coronavirus patients.
Trump has not been promoting the drug lately, but returned to doing so while speaking to reporters at the White House.
“I happen to be taking it right now,” Trump declared without offering confirmation that the White House physician was actually stupid enough to prescribe the medication.
“I happen to be taking it … right now, yeah” — Trump claims he’s taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug he’s touted as a potential coronavirus treatment despite a lack of evidence that can lead to potentially fatal heart problems pic.twitter.com/zxiNxlyfEs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
Trump then claimed letters from people urging him to take the drug caused him to do so, and that he did it so Americans can feel more confident about taking it themselves.
“I want the people of this nation to feel good. I don’t want them being sick” — Trump claims the White House doctor signed off on him taking hydroxychloroquine, which he says he was inspired to start taking because of letters he received pic.twitter.com/R0oKn9XMpP
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
Again, studies show that chloroquine is not an effective treatment for coronavirus and can result in fatal heart problems. So when Trump asked “what do you have to lose?” the answer is your life.
.@jeffmason1: What is the evidence that hydroxychloroquine has a preventative impact?
TRUMP: “Are you ready? Here’s my evidence — I get a lot of positive calls about it … what do you have to lose?” pic.twitter.com/51b967dypu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
Trump’s announcement even shocked Fox News host Neil Cavuto, who had to issue a warning to viewers not to take the drug because it can kill them.
Fox News’s Neil Cavuto is stunned by Trump’s announcement that he’s taking hydroxychloroquine: “If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment … it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you.” pic.twitter.com/e6D5alfAgc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020
Likely, this is yet another ploy to fool Americans into demanding chloroquine so Trump can enrich himself since he is invested in a company that makes the drug. Although some claim his investment is so small it wouldn’t do him much good to promote the drug. The other side of that coin suggests that since no one has seen Trump’s tax returns that his investments could be potentially larger. Trump’s skeptics might point out that since Trump has been deceptive on so many other fronts, his brief “financial disclosure form” might not tell the whole story there.
This morning, Joe Scarborough called out Trump’s claim and suggested he isn’t actually taking the drug. Furthermore, his bogus claim, according to Scarborough, takes things to a whole new level of Trump’s responsibility if anyone should take his advice and take the drug as a preventative measure.
Check out that clip below:
Featured Image: Screenshot
