The answer, Fauci said, is no
I found I needed to watch the whole sequence that led to that rage-fit at a reporter, so I found the complete video and watch-stop-watched until I got there.
It starts at 1:36:47. A reporter asks Fauci about the anti-malaria drug chloroquine and if there’s any evidence that it can be used as a prophylaxis against the coronavirus. Fauci says no, and explains that the evidence the reporter is talking about is anecdotal, and why that doesn’t count. So then Trump speaks up and – from his great pool of expertise on this subject, which is that he “feels good about it” – contradicts everything Fauci just said.
That’s the context in which Peter Alexander asked his question about giving the public false hope.
The guy who is there to provide the medical science says there is no genuine evidence that remedy X works, Trump babbles about feelings and who knows and it might or it might not and we’ll see and he feels good about it, the reporter asks, indirectly, if that kind of pie in the sky bullshit might give people false hope, and Trump erupts in a rage.
I watched to the bit starting where you indicated. Trump is a babbling idiot, inserting his empty, stock phrases while his tiny mind figures out what to say next:
“…Bayer, one of the companies, very big, very great company…”
“…people may be surprised…”
“I’ve got a good feeling, smart guy…”
“…I’ve been right a lot…”
Jesus. He’d come off a lot better (okay, not a lot better, but not nearly as bad) IF HE’D SHUT THE FUCK UP. He can’t not be a know-it-all. Even when he doesn’t know anything. The “good feeling” of the “smart guy” is going to get a lot of people killed, and the only person who’s going to be surprised is him. And then, Trump will take no responsibility. I wish someone on that stage would grab him by the lapels, shake him up and tell him to bugger off and let the adults look after things.
Good luck to all of you in the United States.
I know. That babble babble babbling drives me CRAZY. It’s what self-important self-centered self-glorifying mind-blind goons like him do, and I HATE IT.
I swear Dr. Birx looks like she’s being held hostage and trying to blink out a message in Morse code.
My favorite part is when Trump said he’s a big fan of the drug, then thought about it and said he might be the biggest of it. He has to “win” everything.
Well I think saying he thought about it is putting it a little too strongly…
In theory Trump could be babbling about its effectiveness as a treatment (it is being used for that in China, South Korea, and Italy, with initially very promising, if not rigorous, results) vs. its use as a prophylaxis, which is what Fauci was addressing, but that’s probably giving him way too much credit. I doubt he even knows what “prophylaxis” means.
I’ve been impressed by Fauci thus far. It’s kind of a miracle he somehow ended up on Trump’s team for this. Normally these positions are nonpartisan, expert positions, but with Trump I’m amazed we didn’t get Don Jr.’s family doctor or something.
Thus far? Fauci was the hero of the HIV pandemic. This isn’t his first rodeo.
(It was funny/sickening seeing Trump brag that Fauci’s “a celebrity now.” He’s been a celebrity since the ’80s.)