Trump goes with his gut on drug
President using treatment despite FDA warnings
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s announcement that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine to fend off coronavirus has evolved into the pandemic’s latest political dividing line Tuesday as aides scrambled to explain his embrace of the untested therapy. Trump’s unprompted disclosure that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine for nearly two weeks despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration once again prompted questions about whether he is following advice from his own medical experts or is trusting his gut as he navigates the worst public health crisis in generations.
From refusing to wear a face mask in public despite a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shelving federal guidance this month on reopening, Trump has framed his decisions as matters of personal choice rather than driven by science – a message that has resonated with some of his core supporters.
His moves have also drawn a sharp stylistic contrast with Democrat Joe Biden, whose campaign to unseat Trump has largely followed the advice of public health experts by refraining from events and urging Americans to follow public health guidelines.
Hydroxychloroquine is FDA-approved to treat or prevent malaria as well as autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Several studies have raised questions
about the drug’s ability to fight the virus and its safety.
The FDA has warned that the drug should be avoided outside of hospitals or trials because of the risk of heart rhythm problems.
Trump rejected suggestions that the drug was unsafe during a Cabinet meeting and attacked one of the studies that indicated it could have serious side effects. He described the drug as “an extra line of defense” and said he’s “had no impact from it.”
“People are going to make up their own mind,” he said told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday in response to questions about whether he was putting Americans at risk by touting hydroxychloroquine.
James Pfiffner, a George Mason University professor who studies the presidency, noted that the president’s statement seemed to highlight “his desire to blow off the warnings of experts and undermine confidence” in U.S. health authorities. “It is part of his rejection of expertise that seems to make him so appealing to his base,” Pfiffner said.
Administration officials offered disjointed explanations Tuesday for Trump’s decision to take the drug as the controversy from his remarks a day earlier reverberated through Washington. White House physician Sean Conley prescribed the drug to Trump, a senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity told USA TODAY. That official said Trump is consulting with many physicians but declined to name them.
In his own telling, Trump raised the idea of taking hydroxychloroquine with Conley – not the other way around. Trump said he asked Conley, “What do you think?” and the physician responded, “Well, if you’d like it.” Conley released a vaguely worded statement Monday asserting that “the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks” and he noted that one of the president’s valets had tested positive for the virus. The White House confirmed that the valet had tested positive on May 7.
Presidential historians pointed to several themes in Trump’s decisions to try hydroxychloroquine, forgo masks and pressure states to reopen. One is the president’s self-styled trust of his own “gut” over his experts. Another is that Trump has never embraced the concept that a president models behavior for the rest of America.
“I don’t think Trump has ever desired whatsoever to see himself as role model, to hold up the best of what we can be,” said Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. “Trump’s entire ethos appears to be ‘I am different than the rest of you. The rules don’t apply.’ ”
Democrats blasted Trump’s announcement about taking hydroxychloroquine. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, an outspoken Trump critic, suggested on MSNBC that Trump may have raised the issue to “divert attention from all the bad things happening.” Or, he said, “maybe he’s just lying.”
Allies of the president defended the decision. Tom Fitton, president of the conservative activist group Judicial Watch, tweeted Tuesday that while the drug was not without its risks, it was a “gamble worth taking.”
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn described the decision Tuesday as “between a patient and their doctor.”