Brian Stelter

Remember how the media told the story of the couple who had ingested the fish tank cleaner, that the mention of the potential of the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine by President Donald Trump was somehow responsible for it. That was nonsense on its face since he was talking about properly prescribed drugs not fish tank cleaner. Not to mention the there may be more to that story.

But since then the FDA has approved the drugs for emergency use, noting they can be beneficial and in a study of 6227 doctors around the world, the doctors list hydroxychloroquine as the “most effective therapy” they have employed against the virus.

So has that changed the media’s effort to attack Trump over the mention of hydroxychloroquine?

No, it’s actually gotten worse and become completely unhinged.

When Trump mentioned it again at a briefing on Saturday, saying “What do you have to lose?” [if the choice is potential death] he noted it was up to people and their doctors, media completely lost it again, claiming he was spreading dangerous and potentially deadly information.

Let’s start with the principle that you can’t legitimately get the drug without it being prescribed by a doctor. In the briefing, they even said it wasn’t for everyone and it might not be indicated in some cases. So if media is objecting to what’s being said, they’re objecting to a doctor prescribing it.

But that didn’t stop CNN’s Brian Stelter from the attack.

Why today's WH briefing was disturbing: presidential misinformation from the podium; dangerous and unconfirmed claims about hydroxychloroquine; gratuitous shots at rival politicians. pic.twitter.com/dHqUtCzkKC

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 4, 2020

Doctors have been prescribing it in the U.S. as an “off-label” use for the virus even before the the FDA approval for emergency use. It’s been successfully used for years for a variety of things from malaria to rheumatoid arthritis. Obviously, any drug not properly used can be dangerous and it should only be used under a doctor’s care.

But to continue this attack as though doctors hadn’t already been using it, the FDA hadn’t approved it for emergency use recognizing its benefit, and ignoring its use around the world is simply to ignore facts because Orange Man Bad.

Someone is anti-hope b/c that goes hand-in-hand with being anti-Trump. Trump and the others at the briefing SAID it's not for everyone and even some shouldn't based on their health history.

But sure, be unhinged. Alinsky tactics all the time at CNN https://t.co/osc9QSJhO6

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 4, 2020

HT: Twitchy