White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany singled out CNN host Chris Cuomo for criticizing the president’s use of hydroxychloroquine.
On Monday, President Trump announced that he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, as a preventive measure in response to one of his staff members testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. Many, including Cuomo, criticized Trump for taking the drug because it was not approved for coronavirus treatment. During a press briefing on Wednesday, McEnany questioned why Cuomo criticized Trump when he reportedly also tried an unapproved medication to treat his own bout of the coronavirus.
“I have seen a lot of apoplectic coverage of hydroxychloroquine. You had Jimmy Kimmel saying the president quote ‘is trying to kill himself’ by taking it. You have Joe Scarborough saying, quote, ‘This will kill you.’ Neil Cavuto saying, ‘What have you got to lose? One thing you have to lose are lives.’ And you had Chris Cuomo saying the president knows that hydroxychloroquine is not supported by science. He knows it has been flagged by his own people, and he’s using it,” McEnany said.
“Well, Cuomo mocked the president for this. Interestingly, I found this out just before coming here, hydroxychloroquine, of course, is an FDA-approved medication with a long-proven track record for safety, and it turns out that Chris Cuomo took a less safe version of it called quinine, which the FDA removed from the market in 2006 because of its serious side effects, including death,” McEnany added.
Cuomo’s wife, Cristina, did note in an Instagram post that the CNN anchor was taking “lots of vitamins necessary for this time [and] non-toxic quinine (Cinchona Officialis) to combat this oxygen-eating virus.” The FDA did remove some quinine products from the market, though it is not clear which product Cuomo was taking.
McEnany suggested that Cuomo should have the same outlook on hydroxychloroquine as his brother, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“I’d like to redirect him to his brother, the governor of New York, Governor Cuomo, who has several on-the-record statements about hydroxychloroquine, saying, ‘I’m an optimist. I’m hopeful about the drug and that’s why we will try it here in New York as soon as we get it. There has been anecdotal evidence it’s promising. That’s why we are going ahead.’ And I have eight other quotes from Governor Cuomo,” McEnany said.
