‘Huckster’: Trump Demolished For Pushing Virus Drug Linked To Spike In Deaths | MSNBC

During a coronavirus press briefing, President Trump was pressed by reporters on a study showing higher death rates in patients taking hydroxychloroquine hyped by Trump in multiple press conferences. In a new interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, veteran strategist and former Republican Steve Schmidt argues it is “outrageous” of Trump to give out “opinions on medication to take with regard to a virus that's a novel coronavirus.” Schmidt compares Trump’s behavior to Jude Law’s character on the movie “Contagion,” likening him to a “huckster,” trying to sell a medicine “to people who are dealing with the disease in the fictionalized movie.” (This interview is from MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber,” a news show covering politics, law and culture airing nightly at 6pm ET on MSNBC. ). Aired on 4/21/2020.
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'Huckster': Trump Demolished For Pushing Virus Drug Linked To Spike In Deaths | MSNBC

91 comments

    1. Ummm…. Never mind umbrellas, Erno Rubik designed a 1x1x1 cube for Grumph45 and he couldn’t even solve that.

    1. #Ballislife #thegrindneverstops I say Drumph first Nixon second both crooks. Nixon
      would be more capable in this Pandemic Drumph doesn’t care how many Americans die.

    2. Davey
      you got your facts kind of messed up. That was the worst come back from recession in the history of the us that he was in charge of. There wasn’t a day that went by ,for 8 years, that Barry didn’t tell us that “He inherited problem”. Your assessment is not totally right again read this circa:

      12/31/2015

      Growth: The president keeps congratulating himself on how the economy’s doing, and Hillary Clinton just gave her former boss an ‘A’ for his handling of the nation’s finances. Who said inflation was under control?
      The latest revised numbers for GDP growth through the third quarter of 2015 tell us that we are still stuck in a 2% growth rut and real middle class wages are still flat-lining.
      Meanwhile, another new report from Sentier Research based on Census data finds that median household income of $56,700 at the end of 2015 stood exactly where it was, adjusted for inflation, at the end of 2007.
      That’s eight years of virtually zero income gain. And Obama and his Washington pals wonder why voters are in such a cranky mood.
      Last week, the Joint Economic Committee of Congress issued a new report on the Obama recovery that’s loaded with even more bleak news.
      On almost every measure examined, the 2009-15 recovery since the recession ended in June of 2009 has been the meekest in more than 50 years.
      Start with the broadest measure: growth in output. The chart with this editorial compares the Obama growth pace with that of the average recovery coming out of the last eight recessions, and with the Reagan recovery, and over the same number of months (77).
      Democrats used to disparage the Reagan expansion as nothing special. Yet the growth rate over the first 25 quarters under Reagan was 34%, vs. 14.3% under Obama.
      How much does this matter? If we had grown at an average pace, GDP in 2015 would have been about $1.8 trillion higher. Under the Reagan recovery, growth would have been $2.7 trillion higher.
      It is certainly true that every recession is different in cause and consequences, so the JEC dug deeper into the numbers. It examined GDP growth on a per capita basis.
      The Reagan recovery was abnormally strong in part because it happened as millions of baby boomers were swept into the workforce, adding to growth.
      But even on a per capita basis, real GDP has grown only 9% vs. 18.8% for the average recovery. That is the lowest of any post-1960 recovery. The growth decline in this key gauge of living standards is alarming.
      Next, the JEC measured job market trends. Again we see a failing record. Yes, official unemployment of just over 5% today is very low.
      But that’s because 94 million people in America over the age of 16 aren’t in the labor force. Labor force participation rates have fallen sharply for working age Americans. If job growth had been the same as in the average recovery, we would have 5.9 million more Americans working.
      Amazingly, if we had had a Reagan-paced job recovery, we would today have at least 12 million more Americans working. That’s more people than in the labor force of Michigan and Indiana combined.
      When business investment is weak, fewer people work. Wages and family incomes remain stagnant.
      That’s the sorry story of the Obama era.
      And it was no accident, by the way. It’s the result of policy moves by the Democrats, who controlled Congress completely from 2006 to 2010, by President Obama, who has been in office since 2009, and by the Federal Reserve. All operated on the mistaken notion that more government, not less, would fix things.
      The trillion-dollar stimulus of 2009, Dodd-Frank financial reforms, an $8 trillion surge in federal debt, ObamaCare, higher taxes on those who work, and an ongoing regulatory siege that has pushed the number of federal rules to an all-time high — all contributed to the epic slowdown in economic growth that plagues our nation.
      As for the Fed’s quantitative easing — under which the central bank printed more than $3.5 trillion in new money as “stimulus” — and 0% interest rates, they were also a bust for growth.
      If Obama’s recovery had been just average — in other words a C grade — JEC calculates that “after-tax per-person income would be $3,339 (2009 dollars) per year higher.” That’s about $278 a month per person in missing income.
      This lack of growth is especially bad for those at lower incomes. Not only can they not climb the ladder of opportunity in a stagnant, slow-growth economy, but a substantial number actually fall back into poverty.
      The poverty rate as of the end of 2014 — the last full year for which data are available — was 14.8%. That’s higher than in 1966, the year President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” went into effect.
      President Obama’s economic policies share a major part of the blame for that — and for Americans’ growing sense that something’s gone very wrong in our country.
      The JEC’s dreary conclusion tells the whole sad story of the era of Obamanomics in one brief line: “On economic growth, the Obama recovery ranks dead last.”
      Dead last. Americans can feel the effects of this squeeze when they pay their bills each month at the kitchen table, and when their paycheck doesn’t stretch so far when they shop at the local store.
      For the record, last place isn’t an A grade. It’s closer to an F. If this is the record that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wants to run on, by all means, let her.

    3. @David Greer Davey it’s amazing how you geriatric JoJo loversforget that Trump ,through his initiatives, took unemployment to lowest levels since the 1960s. And I am not a Trump anything. I am an independent voter.
      He has gotten much done for good..

      Trump’s 22 ACC

      The President signed legislation that reauthorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, making more than $1 billion available for career education programs.

      President Trump has prioritized the economic empowerment of women.

      The women’s unemployment rate recently reached its lowest rate in 65 years.

      The Small Business Administration lent approximately $500 million more in capital to women-owned businesses in 2017 compared to 2016.

      The Administration helped launch the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, which could leverage more than $1 billion to support women entrepreneurs.

      ROLLING BACK RED TAPE: President Trump is rolling back costly regulations that have burdened hardworking Americans and stifled innovation.

      President Trump has followed through on and exceeded his promise to roll back two regulations for every new one created.

      President Trump’s Administration surpassed the 2:1 ratio in 2018, eliminating 12 regulations for every new one in 2018.

      In 2017, the Trump Administration eliminated 22 regulations for every new one.

      Since taking office, President Trump’s deregulation efforts have achieved $33 billion in regulatory savings.

      In 2018, these efforts alone delivered $23 billion in benefits to American families and business owners.

      President Trump has signed 16 Congressional Review Act resolutions into law, eliminating burdensome Obama-era rules and regulations.

      President Trump announced U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have harmed America’s economy and cost American workers millions of jobs.

      President Trump signed an executive order to streamline the permitting process for infrastructure projects with a goal of cutting approval time from up to 10 years to an average of 2 years.

      President Trump signed legislation to roll back burdensome Dodd-Frank regulations that harmed community banks.

      NEGOTIATING BETTER DEALS FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: President Trump is negotiating fair and balanced trade deals that protect American industries and workers.

      President Trump negotiated a new trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico to replace the disastrous and outdated North American Free Trade Agreement.

      Once enacted by Congress, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) will better serve the interests of American workers and businesses.

      USMCA will incentivize billions of dollars in auto and auto parts production in the United States and create a freer and fairer market for American agriculture.

      USMCA also includes the strongest-ever provisions on labor, environmental, digital, and intellectual property protections to reflect the realities of the 21st century economy.

      Part 2

      Part 3

      The President renegotiated the United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement to preserve and grow jobs in the American auto industry and increase American exports.

      The United States and Japan are set to begin negotiations on a United States–Japan Trade Agreement.

      President Trump is establishing a new trade relationship with the European Union (EU), working toward the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to transatlantic trade.

      President Trump has established a Trade and Investment Working Group to lay the groundwork for post-Brexit trade with the United Kingdom (UK) and has notified Congress of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the UK.

      This year, President Trump filed a withdrawal notification with the Universal Postal Union, launching a one-year negotiation to secure fair international postal rates for American mailers.

      President Trump has expanded market access for American agricultural producers.

      Argentina has opened to American pork and beef, Brazil to American beef, Japan to lamb and Idaho chipping potatoes, South Korea to American poultry, and more.

      The Administration authorized $12 billion to aid farmers affected by unfair retaliatory tariffs.

      The Trump Administration has begun the process to expand the sale of E15, or gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol, to year round.

      Under President Trump, the United States will no longer accept bad trade deals and unfair trade practices that harm American workers and industries.

      One of the President’s first actions after taking office was withdrawing the United States from the terrible Trans-Pacific Partnership, which incentivized outsourcing.

      In 2017, the Administration oversaw 82 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.

      President Trump is holding China accountable for its unfair trade practices, such as the theft of intellectual property, by imposing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods.

    4. @David Greer It is good he lowered to number though.

      Barry’s Stupid directions. Shapiro too

      redistributionist agenda of tax increases, federalizing health care, massive new debt, layers of more regulation, zero-interest rates, neo-socialist regulatory appointments, expansionary eligibility for entitlements, and constant anti-free-market jawboning that created a psychological atmosphere conducive to real retrenchment, mental holding patterns, and legitimate fears over discernable success. O,bama weaponized federal agencies including the IRS, DOJ, and EPA in such a manner as to worry anyone successful, prominent, and conservative enough to come under the federal radar of a vindictive Lois Lerner, Eric Holder, or a FISA court.
      Sactionary cities want to protect illegals who commit crimes-under his watch.
      Ben Shapiro
      https://youtu.be/s0wLpAc1Vx8

      Obama was willing to send $150 billion on pallets to the Iranians, number one threat in the mideast; democrats didn’t care. Obama sent extra millions to the UN for climate control programs. Obama sent a team to ISrael with $300,000 of State Dpt funding to upset election…..Obama wasted billions on a stimulus that failed, old clunkers and old refrigerators.. 
      Obma gave Palestine $500 million before he left, Hezbollah was most appreciative, Obama let in thousands on trains through the SW border and we pay for them every day, ..is that the money you are looking for???

    1. Gerald Colgrove i never let Despicable Donald bang anything… not sure what you’re insinuating here

    2. Gerald Colgrove yes, life is very short -especially for those infected with an incurable virus thanks to Donald’s incompetence and dereliction of duty

    3. @Mathy Don and do us all an even bigger favor. Take your brother schiff with you when you say hello to your master in the eternal fire.

    1. @Samou Semana the national stockpile in preparation for the pandemic was woefully inadequate. Thats the fault of current and former administrations.
      True that Trump inherited a bare cupboard, but its not like he fixed it the previous 3 years. Hopefully we have learned our lesson. We will see it again.. It seems like the coronavirus strikes every 5 to 6 years.

    2. @talon310calif Sure he is responsible as are many others. In one word, the healthcare system is a mess.. I cannot believe that people have been sewing masks for hospitals; I did it, in supposely the richest and best country in the world. This virus uncovered so many weaknesses in the developed countries..

    3. @Samou Semana yeah, we learned quickly how weak our supply chain is. We need certain manufacturing to be here in US. US had to apply pressure to other countries to keep supplies coming in. There will be another coronavirus. We have to be better prepared next time. South Korea, among others, learned from the past and has handled this one well.

    1. If trump said liked mazdas, all you dumb lefties would blame trump for any car crashes involving that car. Not a simile

    2. Sorry- “our” ideologies?!?!? These beliefs are not shared by more than half the US that are Educated people who aren’t racists and work under evidence based scientific analysis and want government to operate effectively and
      Uphold the Constitutional commitment to “promote the health and general welfare of the People”

    1. Are you a moron, or just the most disingenuous person on the internet? I will give you the benefit of the doubt as a fan of MSDNC and go with moron.

    2. @Galidorn Elkenmeer sorry they lack FOXs journalistic integrity. Would you believe them if they told you one thing one week then do an about face the next like FOX does?

    3. And these are his experts. His Dr of infectious disease said testing is not adequate and Trump says he disagrees with him. Who’s the expert?

    1. But as Dump’s children Junior, Ivanka and whatsisname are ALL COMPLICIT in Dump’s failures, then they deserve it.

    2. Who cares how ttumps* family is going to suffer for coming generations. What about the families who have lost loved ones.

  1. This is what happens when NO ONE takes a stand against a bully & he’s allowed to do whatever he feels.

    Just one.

    One pop to the snout is all it would have taken somewhere along the way & things might be different.

    1. @samsung a10 Yeah, a world renowned Doctor would use his GMail email address for his “published” research. Doesn’t even have a Hospital or University email. He’s a Climate Change denier. You would get more entertaining info from The Onion.

    2. When Biden finishes giving his POTUS oath of office, I want Biden to take his hand off the Bible, turn to Trump and deck him, then turn back to the crowd and give his acceptance speech. Park Police can police up the Trump trash while he speaks.

    3. D e x He is not a climate change denier. He simply pointed out that there is no more global warming according to the data. That’s why terms from global warming to climate change btw. And he was visited by Macron the french President just a week ago https://youtu.be/1uo2m9caFoU

    1. How do you people fall for fake news every time. Read the study. Hydroxychloroquine was given to critically ill patients. Their average age was 65 and had average of 3 morbidity. Non-critically ill patients were not given this medication. Hydroxychloroquine is effective when used early because it reduces viral replication. It’s far less effective when patients have full blown infection in the lungs and develop pneumonia.
      Here’s a video by a doctor that debunks this story. It’s in 12th minute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLSYRqcg0wo

  2. Trump : ” Im Not A Doctor So Take The Drugs, Try It ”

    US : ” What If People Die? ”

    Trump : ” I Don’t Take Responsibility For That, I Said It Already, Im Not A Doctor “

    1. @alan4sure I gave my opinion of hydroxychloroquin and my experience with administering it to my patients.
      It’s strange that after 70 years of people taking this drug, it’s all of a sudden causing heart rhythm problems. So, I believe the problem is being caused by the virus attacking the heart, not the drug.
      Every time a drug addict shoots up an illegal drug they stand a bigger chance of doing damage to any number of organs especially the heart.
      With this virus, once you get on a ventilator you have about an 80% chance of dying. If I get this virus, I’ll take my chances with hydroxychloroquin.
      Meanwhile, the FDA will continue their studies on the drug, and idiots like you will continue to attack the president on anything you can instead of doing something to help.

    2. @Charles Farmer The best way to help the American people is to get rid of Trump. He has caused irreparable damage already. I’m just amazed that anyone can still support him as day by day he loses his mind in front of the cameras. Not to mention his disdain for anyone who doesn’t act as support for him and his misinformation campaign. “Try it, what have you got to lose.”

    3. @Trevor McKenna-Williams You are right, Trump or anyone else without medical credentials should not be given any advice on how to treat the virus. And you are right. HCQ doesn’t have a controlled study for the treatment of covid 19, same for Remdesivir but its study was published in NEJM on April 10, non-randomised and non controlled. They seem to go crazy against HCQ that’s has been used for 60 years which means it has many safety studies and was proven to be safe but as any other med, has potential side effects. HCQ was promoted in US by Trump which is not his job, but I would like to know why experts seem to lean towards the money making molecules… well, that being said, many countries use HCQ with z excluding patients with cardiac issues early on for mild and moderate cases. The VA study was not even peer reviewed and given to people on oxygen, too late and they know it doesn’t work. Dr. Raoult from south of France used it on over 3000 patients and so far has had about 0.5% mortality rate.. there is an ongoing study looking at it for the prevention of complications of xovid 19 in patients with underlying conditions, looking forward to seeing the results meanwhile I will take HCQ with azithromacin and zinc…

    1. He acts like he is massively in debt to Russian mobsters or villains unknown. The mortgages on his real estate might be sketchy enough that if the government seizes the property, the financiers won’t be able to reclaim it.

      Without the ability to cancel out Trump’s liabilities, his assets are worthless. I strongly suspect that all of the grift he is raking in from the American people is just going for interest payments.

    2. Take a step back, and understand that your claim that trump killed anyone who has died of chloroquine, is absurd

    3. @nebulousJames12345 It was his false statement and encouragement that led people to take it. Which we now know kills 3 times as many people as Covid-19 does.

    4. He might be completely broke & in debt up to his Ying yang to Putin. Nobody knows, as he won’t release his tax returns

  3. Well who knew? You shouldn’t listen to a shyster criminal conman when it comes to what medication to take 🙄 More deaths due to Dump

  4. I’m feeling sicker by the day and depressed and no it’s not the virus that’s causing it …. it’s the Orange Baby. Let’s just be done with this con man

    1. @Lil Blaisy hahaha – you trump suppositories can’t come up with any evidence or facts so you just imitate your dummy leader “he is the best guy ever” hahahahahaha

    1. It still needs more time and the addition of zinc is also a factor that needs to be studied. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like MSNBC read the study.
      There is an important detail that the researchers concluded:
      “Compared to the no HC(hydroxychloroquine) group, the risk of death from any cause was higher in the HC group but not in the HC+AZ (hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin) group”
      An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone but no those treated with hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin

  5. ” He has no experience “”
    Oh yes but lets give him a chance. Afterall He is a successful business man..
    “Nuts”

    1. He has done a good job. What are you talking about?
      VS Community activist Jr. senator from Chicago who screwed everything up for 8 long years

  6. – What’s insane is his body language and the way he talks is identical when he lies, Add the fact he has no remorse for others or in his action … Now factor all this into the sexual assaults allegations he denied.

  7. English has many interesting words and phrases like charlatan, huckster, con artist, quack and snake oil salesman. Never thought we’d use them for the US president

  8. I can’t tolerate hearing the Orange Clown’s voice, much less than watching his Clown Posse Circus Hour.

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