WATCH: Trump Stuns Reporters Saying He Takes Hydroxychloroquine Every Day

President Donald Trump made a surprising announcement during a roundtable discussion with restaurant executives on Monday in which he declared that he was taking hydroxychloroquine every day as a precaution against coronavirus.

“You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it,” Trump said, “especially the front line workers before you catch it. I happen to be taking it. I am taking it – hydroxychloroquine, right now, yeah. A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it because I think it’s good. I’ve heard a lot of good stories.”

Hearing reporters’ audible surprise followed by an influx of questions about his use of hydroxychloroquine, Trump added, “If it’s not good, I’ll tell you right… I’m not going to get hurt by it. It’s been around for 40 years for lupus, malaria, and a lot of things. A lot of doctors take it. I take it.”

The FDA Put Out an Official Warning Against Using Hydroxychloroquine to Treat COVID-19

Trump has been championing hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug as a potential coronavirus cure for a couple of weeks during his press conferences. Thus far, however, there haven’t been any studies to prove that hydroxychloroquine can help fight coronavirus.

According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, two studies showed that the anti-malaria drug “did not increase the likelihood of virus elimination” in patients infected with a mild case of COVID-19, “nor did it have any effect on reducing admissions to intensive care or death in French patients with more severe illness.”

CIDRAP also reported that hydroxychloroquine caused a higher rate of adverse reactions when treated with the drug. There’s a long list of possible side effects while taking hydroxychloroquine as a medicine, including altering the heartbeat which can lead to death.

The U.S. Food and Drug Association put out a statement on April 24, in which they cautioned against use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 “outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems.”

White House Coronavirus Task Force member and infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said of hydroxychloroquine on Face the Nation, “The data are really just at best suggestive; there have been cases that show there may be an effect, and there are others to show there’s no effect. So, I think in terms of science, I don’t think we can definitively say it works.”

FOX News Reporter Neil Cavuto Warned Viewers Against Hydroxychloroquine Following Trump’s Statement: ‘I Can Not Stress This Enough – It Can Kill You’

While FOX News is typically Trump’s biggest support system, the network’s reporter Neil Cavuto appeared to be stunned by Trump’s announcement on hydroxychloroquine. Cavuto said that those with respiratory and heart ailments who too this drug actually died.

“There are a number of studies which examine examined 1,438 individuals in the New York area across 25 hospitals from the beginning of March to the end of March, and they concluded that among those hospitalized with COVID-19,” that that was no statistical difference between those treated with hydroxychloroquine versus those who did receive the drug.

Cavuto stressed, “If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus, or worst-case scenario, you’re dealing with the virus in this vulnerable population … it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you.”

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