President Donald Trump exhibited his new serious tone toward the coronavirus crisis on Monday night, sharing a viral video of fringe doctors touting the controversial anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as “a cure for COVID.”
The video, which also featured the doctors dismissing mask-wearing, was eventually taken down by Facebook for “sharing false information” about the virus, after racking up millions of views in a matter of hours. Several right-wing outlets and personalities, however, continued to promote the clip of the doctors’ press conference on Twitter, eventually reaching the president’s timeline.
Besides retweeting the clip several times, Trump—who recently said his retweets tend to get him “in trouble”—went on to share several other posts promoting hydroxychloroquine, which the FDA has rescinded for emergency use for the virus.
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Numerous studies and clinical trials have found that the drug has shown no real benefit in treating coronavirus patients. Experts also have warned of potentially deadly side effects.
Trump then shared a tweet directly from Dr. Stella Immanuel, one of the physicians who took part in the press conference. Immanuel is also a preacher who once wrote a book claiming that there is a Satanic plot to take over the world and recently challenged CNN anchors and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci to provide her with urine samples. (The video tweeted by Immanuel, along with several others the president shared, were later taken down.)
She also didn’t take kindly to Facebook removing the video of her saying masks don’t work and that hydroxychloroquine is a magic cure for the virus.
“Hello Facebook put back my profile page and videos up or your computers with start crashing till you do,” she tweeted late Monday night. “You are not bigger that God. I promise you. If my page is not back up face book will be down in Jesus name.”
The president also shared tweets attacking Fauci on Monday night, despite insisting recently that he had a “very good relationship” with the doctor after White House officials publicly blasted him.
At least one of the accounts the president retweeted on Monday night was from a follower of QAnon, the conspiracy theory that alleges a “deep state” cabal of pedophiles is plotting against Trump.
