Used-drug salesman

Deep in his bones and blood, Donald Trump is a shameless promoter. Just as deep in his, Tony Fauci is a physician, immunologist and infectious disease expert. Who should the American people listen to when it comes to the effectiveness of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in treating the novel coronavirus?

It’s not a trick question.

Yet Dr. Trump and his personal Igor, Rudy Giuliani, continue to tout the benefits of a drug combination that, while promising in early, small studies and worthy of additional research, is far from established to be the near miracle coronavirus cure they insist it is. Plus, for some patients, it’s downright dangerous to take.

Saturday, the huckster-in-chief, who has a history of giving terrible medical advice by elevating anecdote over evidence, went so far as to say he was eager to swallow the pills himself. Sunday, he interrupted Fauci mid-answer.

Trump’s early and consistent promotion of the therapy has prompted people preemptively hoarding pills by the millions, which is making it harder for lupus and arthritis patients — for whom it has long been established as a vital treatment — to get.

In their irresponsible spitballing, the president and his coterie of people who play doctors on TV are walking examples of why federal law places strict limits on the marketing of prescription drugs to the general public, and why all promotion of such drugs must include a recitation of their risks.

“First, do no harm” is a good doctor’s noble creed. “Always be closing” is Trump’s credo. Tune him out.