Trump defends hydroxychloroquine use by claiming NIH-funded study was actually 'phony'

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

published 19 May 2020

President Trump is creating his own facts to defend taking hydroxychloroquine.

Trump said Monday that he is taking the potentially toxic malaria drug as a "preventative" measure against COVID-19, though a note from Trump's doctor didn't actually say he was doing so. Still, Trump doubled down on the drug on Tuesday, declaring that a government-funded study that showed hydroxychloroquine's dangers was actually "false" and "phony."

"That was a false study, where they gave it to very sick people," Trump said, seemingly talking about research that showed hundreds of COVID-19 patients at VA hospitals not only didn't see improvement after taking hydroxychloroquine, but also ended up with a higher death rate. "It was given by obviously not friends of the administration," Trump said of the research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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