May 18, 2020

Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine Preventatively

SMG/Zuma

The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.

For weeks, President Trump has been touting the anti-malarial medication hydroxychloroquine as a “miracle drug” for treating COVID-19. On Monday, he admitted that he has been taking it prophylactically for a week and a half.

“A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy,” he said. “I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it.” 

Trump slipped the revelation in at the end of a “roundtable with restaurant executives and industry leaders” in which he railed against the whistleblower who revealed the Trump–Ukraine scandal and defended Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s alleged habit of having a staffer perform household tasks. (Trump’s justification? “Maybe his wife isn’t there.”) But of all the absurd things Trump said, his purported use of a non-approved drug for an illness he doesn’t have takes the cake.

When asked for evidence of the drug’s efficacy, Trump replied, “Here’s my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it.” 

The drug, which is used to treat lupus and arthritis, has not been proven to be effective in treating COVID-19, though a clinical trial is underway. In an observational study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that “hydroxychloroquine administration was not associated with either a greatly lowered or an increased risk of the composite end point of intubation or death” and noted that randomized, controlled trials are still needed. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against its use outside of hospital settings.

Watch the video below:

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate