On Sunday, Trump promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine as the possible means to stop or possibly prevent the symptoms from the coronavirus. However, Trump’s remarks continue to put him at odds with the U.S top health experts.
Trump informed the public that the federal government has a stockpile of roughly 29-million hydroxychloroquine pills. And for the second day in a row, he suggested that individuals that show no symptoms of having the coronavirus should consider taking the drug despite insufficient evidence on how the drug will react to treating the virus.
” What do you have to lose?” Trump said. “I’m not looking at it one way or another. But we want to get out of this. If it does work, it would be a shame if we didn’t do it early.”
What do I know? I’m not a doctor,” he added. “But I have common sense.”
Trump’s comments, once again, were met with much resistance. Though he did acknowledge that the drug may not be effective against the virus, he said, “There is no time to wait and let clinical trials play out.”
” I want people to live, and instead, I’m seeing people dying,” Trump said. “And you know the expression when that’s happening. You should do it. What really do we have to lose?”
Other officials in the Trump administration joined in the discussion to promote the drug’s efficiency, including the Vice President, Mike Pence, who said the government was working with Michigan to make hydroxychloroquine available.
A top official from FEMA is said to be prioritizing getting pills out to areas that are deemed” hotspots.”
However, promoting hydroxychloroquine as a potential drug to help fight the pandemic has caused tension among Trump’s administration and healthcare experts. A report on Sunday from Axios said that the top White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro, clashed with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on promoting the drug.
Dr. Fauci has stood firm on his point that it is too early to say how effective the drug would be when using it to combat the coronavirus.
” The data are really just at best suggestive. There have been cases that show there may be an effect, and there are others to show there’s no effect,” Dr. Fauci said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “So I think in terms of science, I don’t think we could definitively say it works.”
But, Trump and his administration’s continued approach to promoting the drug has led to a nationwide shortage of both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and has raised some issues with patients who take the drug for illnesses like lupus, according to the FDA.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that hydroxychloroquine was “being tested now,” claiming “there are some very strong, powerful signs” of its potential as a treatment for coronavirus.
” It’s a great malaria drug. It’s worked unbelievably. It’s a powerful drug on malaria,” Trump said of the drug hydroxychloroquine. “And there are signs that it works on this, very strong signs. And in the meantime, it’s been around a long time. It also works very powerfully on lupus. So, there are some very strong, powerful signs, and we’ll have to see.”
When a reporter attempted to ask Dr. Fauci how he viewed the drug’s potential effects against the virus, Trump blocked the doctor from answering.
” Do you know how many times he’s answered that question? Over 15 times. You don’t have to ask that question,” Trump said.
Now, Rep. Tavia Galonski has called upon her constituents to bring charges against Donald Trump for “crimes against humanity,” due Trump’s continued promotion of the unproven effectiveness the drug would have against the coronavirus.
After the briefing, Rep. Tavia Galonski tweeted out her frustrations.” I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow. Today’s press conference was the last straw,” Galonski said. “I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one. I know #Trump can hear the sirens from the @WhiteHouse.”
Political activist Jessicka Addams followed up, saying,” No matter what, he is not listening. #DoctorsOnlyPressConferences.”
The White House now faces the public calling for health experts to take the reigns on informing the public on the latest updates on efforts to combat the pandemic.
A petition for networks to stop airing Trump’s press briefings has neared more than 300,000 signatures.
