Don: I might take malaria drug vs. bug

He wants to be America’s pillpopper-in-chief.

President Trump said Saturday he may take an antimalaria drug that he’s been promoting as a treatment for coronavirus even though doctors warn that it’s unproven, and he hasn’t been diagnosed with the illness.

“I might do it anyway. I may take it, OK? I may take it,” Trump told his daily press conference. “And I have to ask my doctors about that. But I may take it.”

Trump’s offer to take hydroxychloroquine even though he doesn’t need it came during a freewheeling press conference in which he touted the “efficient” rollout of a small business relief program and attacked the Navy captain who was fired after warning about the pandemic’s impact on his crew.

“I just hope that hydroxychloroquine wins,” he said. “What do you have to lose? Take it! Try it if you’d like.”

He echoed claims about the drug made by allies even as doctors warn evidence is scant that it has any therapeutic affects.

“It would be a gift from heaven if it works,” he added.

The mercurial president also seemed to veer back toward his initial reluctance to maintain social distancing rules. For days, he’d been urging strict adherence to the rules, which medical experts say are saving lives.

The problem is that social distancing rules damage the economy, Trump said. “I said from the beginning that the cure cannot be worse than the disease and I’m still saying that,” he said, repeating his mantra that the country has to “open up” sooner rather than later.

Trump sought to instill confidence that Americans would be able to pack football stadiums by the time the season starts at the end of the summer.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci took a different tone, warning that the country would have to remain vigilant for many months to flatten the curve of death and illness and keep it down.