The oleander sandwiches are on the table
Now Trump is promoting a poison to “treat” the virus.
President Donald Trump and Mike Lindell, the creator of MyPillow and an avowed supporter, participated in a July meeting at the White House regarding the use of oleandrin as a potential therapeutic for coronavirus, Lindell confirmed to CNN.
What other meetings are they having? Meetings regarding being run over by tanks as a potential therapeutic for coronavirus? Meetings regarding being sliced up by swords as a potential therapeutic for coronavirus? Meetings regarding jumping out of planes without a parachute as a potential therapeutic for coronavirus?
Oleandrin is an extract from the plant Nerium oleander. The raw oleander plant is highly toxic, and consumption of it can be fatal.
So let’s use the presidency to tell people to try it! To cure a deadly disease! Which everyone would like to see a cure for!
[Lindell] described the President’s response toward the extract as “enthusiastic.”
“He was enthusiastic, as he is on everything that’s going to help people,” he told CNN, adding that Trump wanted the Food and Drug Administration to “do its course.”
No, as he is on random things that random people mention to him and that he knows nothing about. Things that really are going to help people he’s not enthusiastic about at all.
Trump confirmed he’s “heard about” oleandrin when asked Monday on the White House South Lawn, but still seemed to be in an information-gathering phase.
Hahahahahaha is that what you call it.
Last week, Lindell was added to the board of Phoenix Biotechnology, which makes oleandrin, and received a financial stake in the company.
Well great, thank god Trump is getting his information from a disinterested observer.
“The reason I did that, I want this to get to the public so bad and I want to get it out there to help people,” he said.
As far as I can tell Lindell has no medical training. Wikipedia says his background is more in crack addiction.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Lindell was addicted to cocaine, crack cocaine, and alcohol, leading to foreclosure of his house, and his wife filing for divorce. Lindell stated that he achieved sobriety through prayer in 2009, and, since then, has been clean.
That’s nice but it’s no substitute for medical or pharmaceutical training. You need that before it’s of interest that you’re “enthusiastic” about a poisonous plant as treatment for a virus.
How poisonous is it though? Pretty damn poisonous.
While it’s a beautiful shrub, all parts of it are toxic to people and animals. Ingesting any part can cause serious symptoms or even death. Skin contact also can result in irritation, such as rashes and sores. Plus, even smoke from burning the plant is toxic.
But hey, let’s get all excited and “enthusiastic” about popping it for covid or to prevent covid or just on general principles.
To be honest, any one of those “treatments” would keep you from getting coronavirus…or any other disease that might have afflicted you had you remained alive. You could cure cancer, diabetes, the heartbreak of psoriasis…
There’s a lot of it in California, the state planted acres and acres of it to beautify freeway medians and sidings. Oleanders look nice, have flowers and are drought resistant, but when I first found out they were poisonous I was pretty surprised at the choice. I wonder when people will start grazing on it, dodging traffic to poison themselves.
Oh, no, Mr. Trump. After you! Here, have some on your hamberder.
twiliter, I was startled to discover when I moved to Nebraska that there were huge stands of hemlock everywhere. In Oklahoma, they tended to clear those out, but here? Nope, just have a big stand of hemlock right behind McDonalds, that’s a great idea !
The hemlock seems to be less common now, but I’m not sure that means they’re cleaning it out. Everything not corn seems to be less common, even henbit, which used to turn the entire city purple for a couple of weeks in the spring, but is now only a handful of straggly flowers. Even the cultivated, like peonies, seem to be going away. And I seem to be the only one noticing….
It is truly sad that there will be people gullible enough, impressionable enough and trusting enough to actually try this out. Or even something that sounds like it, maybe going for the plant itself rather than just an extract of it. Hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine phosphate/fish tank cleaner, what’s the difference? What’s in a name? There’s all that enthusiasm, and after all, “what have they got to lose?” Is Trump really bent on being charged for serial negligent homicide with all of his “medical advice?”
At least people following Trump’s fads like injecting bleach and taking oleander are less likely to cause the sort of collateral damage that refusal to wear a mask or failure to maintain physical distance can result in. These individuals are self-selecting to take poisonous materials, and not actively, agressively helping the spread of the virus in public venues. Mind you, taking these remedies still has wider consequences beyond those who choose to self “medicate.” It will still needlessly tie up emergency rooms, hospital hospital beds, medical staff and much needed morgue space.
What’s the likelihood that MyPillowGuy is actually touting a homeopathic [ie. 100% sugar water] preparation of oleander — this “herb” does go all the way back to Hahnemann, and 10C to 30C can be found in the usual snake-oil pits. I know there are in vitro studies aiming at antitumor possibilities [as about every known plant metabolite], but the cardiac glycosides including oleandrin make this one of the most toxic plants in our gardens.
Interesting also what prior suggested its use, other than emptying the pill backstock?
I’m surprised they haven’t started touting foxglove as a cure yet. After all, digitalis is so very good for the heart, why not brew up a pot of tea from those pretty flowers as a cure for COVID-19? Nothing so beaitiful as a foxglove flower could possibly harm you, so what’s the worse that could happen, eh?
Aos, as a botanist, I have learned to be leery of beautiful flowers.