The Washington Examiner reports that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough doubts that Trump is taking hydroxychloroquine in a move that has angered many conservatives.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough speculated that President Trump is lying about taking hydroxychloroquine to help prevent contracting the coronavirus.
The president has repeatedly touted the anti-malarial medication, which has not shown substantial evidence of preventing or treating COVID-19. However, some of the medical experts assisting in the White House’s response have demurred on his praise of the drug, considering the lack of clear proof that it can help coronavirus patients.
Trump announced on Monday he’s been taking the medication for a couple of weeks, and the White House physician later said they decided the “potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.”
The next morning, the host and namesake of Morning Joe accused the president of lying about taking the drug.
“But when the president of the United States actually says he’s doing something which, let me assure you, he is not doing — let me assure you, the president of the United States is not taking hydroxychloroquine,” he began.
Scarborough also said that during the only time they ate a meal together, the president appeared to be fixated on “compulsively” cleaning his hands.
“In all the time that I knew him, I only sat for one meal with him,” he explained. “Before that meal, he had wipes like this high and would go through the wipes, compulsively, and wipe his hands, sanitize his hands before eating anything.”
“So he is not taking something that his own administration has said will kill you,” he continued. “That his own FDA said will kill you. That the [Department of Veterans Affairs] said will kill you. … That’s what doctors will say, too. The FDA said, take it if you’re in the hospital or take it if you’re in a closely watched clinical trial. But, don’t take it unless you’re under those two circumstances. So the president is not taking it, and yet, and yet, he’s telling Americans that they should take it.” (source)
Joe Scarborough’s doubts are not without reason.
Trump has a history of lying and deception. The most infamous example of this are all of his 2016 campaign promises. Likewise, Trump is known for saying what he thinks will give him power and then doing the opposite.
The fact is, there is NO evidence Trump is or is not taking this drug. But has he pointed out, this drug can kill you, the government has said it can kill you, and Trump seems to be very concerned about personal sanitation.
It does not make sense that Trump would take hydroxychloroquine without reason given these circumstances, for he stands to benefit nothing from it but only place himself in potential harm, and why would he or anybody want to do that?
There is something wrong with the situation, and given Trump’s history of braggadoccio, it would not be a surprise if he was saying this to boost his ratings and create controversy between the “right” and the “left” just has how others have noted that Trump has exploited racial tensions for his own campaign’s benefit.
It is true that the trope of “science” can be used as an excuse to sell erroneous political philosophies, however, this situation is far worse. Trump has provided no proof of him doing this, and his words could entice people of good will but poor understanding into doing something that could kill them.
The political situation in the US right now is so toxic between right and left that a person could veritably advertise Hemlock as a beverage for helping with the COVID-19 situation and people might consume it (and please do NOT do such a thing- just as Socrates).
It is overdue that people pay less attention to medical claims from political pundits and listen to people working directly with the disease on-the-ground or in medical research, all of which seem to say:
-It is a threat
-It is very contagious
-Social distancing seems to work a lot
-Masks seem to help a lot
-Avoiding big crowds seems to help
-Vitamin D and sunlight exposure seem to help a lot
-It is something we should be concerned about
That is what matters, and until people who know what they are talking about- not political actors -say more on the matter, the current paradigm needs to remain as it has been.