A Chinese journalist with close ties to the ruling Communist Party mocked President Trump on Tuesday, charging that the commander-in-chief was using “witchcraft” to fight the coronavirus pandemic after the chief executive said he was taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off the virus.
“President Trump is leading the US’s struggle against pandemic with witchcraft, and as a result, more than 90,000 people have died. If it were in China, the White House would have been burned down by angry people,” Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party’s official publication, Global Times, wrote in a since-deleted tweet, the Daily Mail reported.
Hu — who is close with China’s leaders — made his comment after Trump announced Monday that he’s been taking the antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration that it could be dangerous or even lethal.
A day later, the commander-in-chief doubled down on his decision when asked outside the Capitol about why he would tout the drug when he was not a doctor.
“Well, I have worked with doctors. If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, that [hydroxychloroquine was] being given to people in bad shape, they were very old, almost dead. It was a Trump-enemy statement,” he said, referring to a Veterans Health Administration study that said the drug was not effective for treating COVID-19 and might actually increase mortality.
“Now, if you look at some of the reports that came out from Italy, that came out from France, that came out from others, a lot of our front-line workers take it, because it possibly [helps] — and I think it does, but people will have to make up their own mind,” the president continued.
“Plus it doesn’t hurt people. It’s been out on the market for 60, 65 years. I think it gives you a different level of safety, but many front-line workers won’t go through unless they have the hydroxy.”
He also downplayed the importance of finding a vaccine for the disease, saying that a “cure” would be more important.
“We are working on a lot of other things. The great medical companies that we have, if you look at what they’re doing therapeutically, cure-wise and the vaccine itself,” he asserted.
“The vaccine I think is less important than some of the things they’re working on. They’re working on a cure and we have more than one doing it, they’re working on therapeutics, and they’re working on a vaccine. There’s been really tremendous progress.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany earlier Tuesday said Trump wanted to be “transparent” with Americans by disclosing that he had been taking the drug.
“The president just wanted to be transparent about his personal health decision that he made in consultation with his doctor,” McEnany told “Fox & Friends.”
She added that Americans should consult with their doctors before taking the medication themselves.
“First, let me emphasize strongly that any use of hydroxychloroquine has to be in consultation with your doctor — you have to have a prescription,” she said. “That’s the way it must be done.
“That being said, I talked to the FDA commissioner this morning, Stephen Hahn, he said hydroxychloroquine has been approved for three other uses, we have a lot of information about the safety of this drug,” McEnany said. “Though, ultimately, you make that decision with your doctor.”
Some initial studies appeared to support the drug’s benefits, while others showed mixed results or even that it could be dangerous for people with certain conditions.
And the FDA has cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment outside of hospitals or clinical trials due to the potential risk of heart problems.