AP FACT CHECK: Trump trashing virus science he doesn't like
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump doesn't like the message, he shoots the messenger.
So it was this past week when he took very personally a scientific study that should give pause to anyone thinking of following Trump's lead and ingesting a potentially risky drug for the coronavirus. He branded the study's researchers, financed in part by his own administration, his “enemy.”
Heading into Memorial Day weekend, Trump then exaggerated some of his accomplishments for veterans' health care.
A look at recent rhetoric and reality as the pandemic's death toll approached 100,000 in the U.S.:
VIRUS DRUG
TRUMP, on why he considers hydroxychloroquine safe for the treatment of COVID-19: “I’ve received a lot of positive letters and it seems to have an impact. And maybe it does; maybe it doesn’t. But if it doesn’t, you’re not going to get sick or die. This is a pill that’s been used for a long time — for 30, 40 years on the malaria and on lupus too, and even on arthritis, I guess, from what I understand.” — remarks Monday.
TRUMP: “It doesn’t hurt people.” — remarks Tuesday after a GOP policy lunch.
THE FACTS: He’s wrong to assert there is no risk of harm if people take the malaria drug to try to prevent a coronavirus infection. Trump’s own health agencies have cautioned that taking hydroxychloroquine to stave off the virus could be dangerous due to side effects. If the president is to be believed, he's taking the drug himself.
Trump repeatedly has pushed hydroxychloroquine, with or without the antibiotic azithromycin. No large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for COVID-19, and they can cause heart rhythm problems and other serious side effects. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug...
