After Fox News’ own Senior Managing Editor for Health News, Dr. Manny Alvarez, called Donald Trump’s announcement that he is taking hydroxychloroquine preventively against coronavirus, “highly irresponsible,” Tucker Carlson trotted out Fox’s Dr. Marc Siegel to attack the critics.
I’ve already reported on Neil Cavuto’s criticisms. But, as CNN’s Oliver Darcy noted, a number of medical experts backed them up:
Cavuto found himself in the company of medical experts. Dr. Bob Lahita, who he brought on as a guest after his warning, said Cavuto's assessment of the life and death risk was "correct." Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing editor of health news for Fox News, said he found it to be "highly irresponsible" for Trump to be taking hydroxychloroquine. Dr. Scott Atlas, who appeared on Martha MacCallum's show, said the drug is "not proven to work." And Fox even published a story, which led its homepage Monday night, about "DOCTOR'S WARNINGS" about hydroxychloroquine.
But it’s not much of a surprise to see Siegel siding with Trump. You may recall that during the “it’s a hoax” phase of Fox’s coronavirus coverage, Siegel said about the coronavirus, “at worst, worst case scenario it could be the flu” and agreed with host Pete Hegseth that the more you know about it, “the less there is to worry about.”
In his introduction to the discussion, Tucker Carlson dubiously described hydroxychloroquine as the drug “physicians around the world believe may help contain the coronavirus.” He never mentioned that here at home, physicians think it’s dangerous and ineffective.
Siegel didn’t mention that either. He ignored the comments of his own medical colleagues on Fox in order to attack the media for “politicizing” the issue – which, of course, was his way of politicizing it without openly acknowledging it.
SIEGEL: You know the media’s gonna politicize this but I’m gonna talk about it medically. This drug, hydroxychloroquine, which we’ve used in millions of people against malaria prophylaxis, so that you don’t get malaria, it’s used for lupus and other rheumatological problems. A top rheumatologist told me that in the lab, it shows antiviral activity against COVID-19 and it prevents uptake in the cells and it also decreases the inflammation that we’re seeing with this virus.
Now does it work in humans? We’ve seen some studies from Italy, from France and from China that show it might work early in the course of it and there’s a big study in Spain right now and a huge study from the NIH looking at this.
I’m not sure if Siegel spoke before or after a memo was released from Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, in which he failed to say that he had prescribed the drug for Trump, thus casting doubt on whether Trump is really taking it, but Siegel spoke as if the drug had been prescribed.
SIEGEL: So when Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician who I have met with and think is quite reasonable, weighs the options back and forth – he decides to prescribe it for the president, it is a doctor/patient decision, it should not be challenged. It is a medical decision made between a doctor and a patient. You can prescribe off label.
… I think it’s reasonable. As you know, I think that that drug saved my father’s life.
I’ve previously written about Siegel’s claim about his father, which I do not doubt. But both here and before, Siegel never said his father had coronavirus. Carlson didn’t ask either time.
Just last week, Carlson postured as a guy who dislikes divisiveness. But here he interrupted Siegel to prompt him to attack Trump’s critics. “I just have to say, it’s very strange that someone’s choice of medication would be seen as a political story. You think?” Carlson “asked.”
Siegel took the cue:
SIEGEL: Ridiculous! It shouldn’t be! … This political fighting over this virus interferes with the actual medicine we’re seeing here and I’m deeply disturbed by that.
But not disturbed enough to complain about Trump removing top vaccine scientist Dr. Rick Bright from his post after he criticized the administration’s lack of preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic as well as its promotion of hydroxychloroquine. Even though Siegel talked about the importance of a vaccine as the key to getting past the pandemic.
You can watch Carlson and Siegel pretend to be on the side of science while disregarding a lot of it, below, from the May 18, 2020 Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Then when Siegel mouthed “…it is a doctor/patient decision, it should not be challenged” it all came together. Substitute someone talking pretty much identically to Tucker but substitute “medical marijuana” for “hydroxychloroquine” and witness my favorite frat bro do a political 180 degree opinion turn.
We don’t really have to guess how such a conversation would go. Here’s a preview of Tucker pimping marijuana causing dangerous psychosis:
“Tucker Carlson Tries To Blame Marijuana For Mass Shootings”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tucker-carlson-tries-blame-marijuana-173835332.html
Meanwhile, speaking of mental illness, ‘Doctor’ Siegel doesn’t mention the possible dangers of giving hydroxychloroquine with “psychosis-like psychiatric side effects” such as hallucinations to Trump, a mentally ill clinical narcissist living in a fantasy world.
“Hallucinations During Treatment With Hydrochloroquine [Plaquenil]”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15235536/
Of course, if hydroxychloroquine made Trump crazy how would one tell?