There now seems to be a magic word that triggers many liberals including those who work at Politico. And that magic word is "hydroxychloroquine." Why? After all the early reports from doctors around the world reveal that it can be an effective treatment for coronavirus. So what's not to like? Well, President Donald Trump, that's who.
Since the Orange Man has stated that hydroxychloroquine could be a great aid in treating coronavirus, liberals reflexively reacted that it must be bad. All evidence pointing to the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine must now be written off by them as some sort of Trump delusion based upon only anecdotal evidence. In addition, anybody touting that treatment must be derided along with Trump.
Such was the fate of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who, during a briefing on Tuesday had good things to say about the taboo treatment. Politico writers Arek Sarkissian and Andrew Atterbury reacted by deriding DeSantis as a sleazy "pitchman" as you can see in the headline: "DeSantis, hydroxychloroquine pitchman."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday used his coronavirus briefing to give a choreographed, live-streamed shout-out to hydroxychloroquine, a drug President Donald Trump has touted as a potential miracle cure for Covid-19.
During the briefing, DeSantis took credit for loosening shipments of the drug from India and sought testimonials on the drug from doctors and a patient.
“One of the number-one questions we've been getting in the state of Florida is what treatments are available,” DeSantis said. “One of the things that physicians have been using is this hydroxychloroquine, usually, combined with Z pack.”
Despite noting that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the drug for emergency use -- and are lifting restrictions "at Trump's urging" -- they're still questioning the "pitchmen."
Hydroxychloroquine has for decades been used to treat arthritis and malaria, but hasn’t undergone the clinical testing necessary to determine if it’s an effective treatment for Covid-19. Still, the president has championed its use and is shipping it to coronavirus hot zones.
Trump’s outsized attention to the drug has disrupted efforts to respond to the outbreak and caused a schism between the White House and career health officials.
The authors conveniently failed to mention that many career health officials...and workers in the field are now taking hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic.
DeSantis isn’t the only public figure to take up Trump’s championship of hydroxychloroquine. Last month, Twitter asked Fox News host Laura Ingraham to delete a post touting the efficacy of the drug, saying it ran afoul of the company’s rules against misleading health information.
Gee! I wonder what treatment Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will be seeking if he is diagnosed as having coronavirus? Probably the same treatment that the authors of this slam on DeSantis as well as the rest of the Politico crew will be seeking if they test positive for the disease. Of course, they ideologically would need to keep it on the hush-hush.
PS: Politico's Florida team also recently posted a story with this flagrant headline:
‘It's a sh-- sandwich': Republicans rage as Florida becomes a nightmare for Trump
