President Trump’s revelation that he has been taking an unproven anti-malaria drug as a preventative measure against contracting the coronavirus sent shock waves through the political landscape.
“I happen to be taking it. I’m taking it, hydroxychloroquine. … A couple weeks ago, I started taking it,” he told reporters during a roundtable discussion at the White House with executives from the restaurant industry on Monday. “I get a lot of positive calls about it. … I take a pill every day.”
The president added that a White House doctor gave him the drug after he requested it.
Hydroxychloroquine has been used to treat critically ill coronavirus patients with mixed results and has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for mass usage as a treatment.
The president’s remarks sparked outrage, shock, and disbelief from many on social media.
Hydroxychloroquine does not cure or prevent COVID-19 and may cause heart problems.
But 40% of America will now pretend it does because The Idiot Alchemist is taking it.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 18, 2020
Is Lysol next?!?https://t.co/N2LiP0Ceih
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 18, 2020
The President of the United States is unhinged. https://t.co/u4I2ye8Igl
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) May 18, 2020
Dear doctors — how is Trump’s White House physician allowed to prescribe this to him? Wondering what rules would govern a licensed doctor doing this at the order of the patient? https://t.co/HfhcIyjmQJ
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) May 18, 2020
Well, at least the president won’t get malaria.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) May 18, 2020
I do not believe that the president* is taking hydroxychloroquine. I’d sooner believe he shoved an UV lamp up his arse.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) May 18, 2020
