Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday cast doubt on President Donald Trump’s recent claim that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a malaria treatment, to prevent contracting the coronavirus.
“This president doesn’t tell the truth,” Schumer told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” the day after Trump made the claim. “He may be taking this, he may not.”
The president said during a press conference on Monday that he is “taking” hydroxychloroquine despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning not to take the drug unless in a hospital or as part of a clinical study.
“I’m taking the two, the zinc and the hydroxy,” Trump said, adding that he’s been taking the medication for multiple weeks. “And all I can tell you is, so far I seem to be okay.”
When asked why he was taking the medication, the president said: “Here’s my evidence, I get a lot of positive calls about it.”
Schumer told “Morning Joe” on Tuesday: "When you run away from the truth, when you just do something that appeals to your ego, whether it’s true or not, every day, you will not succeed in either the health crisis or the economic crisis. And what he did last night is just an example, as you mentioned. It’s reckless to tell people he’s using” hydroxychloroquine.
"So, I don’t know why he did it. Maybe he has family or friends who own part of the company," the senator added. "It’s not unlike this president. Someone at Mar-a-Lago or someone on the phone tells him, ‘Oh, this is a good company,’ and he just talks about it. Maybe he did it to divert attention from all the bad things happening, and maybe he’s just lying.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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