In a rambling, nearly five-minute-long video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, President Trump claimed an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had enabled him to recover from Covid-19, calling it a “cure” and promising to make it “free” for all Americans.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 05: U.S. President Donald Trump removes his mask upon return to the White … [+]
GETTY IMAGES
KEY FACTS
“It was unbelievable,” Trump—who appeared to be wearing makeup and struggled to get his right eye open at times—said in the video of the treatments he was given at Walter Reed hospital, adding he “felt good immediately.”
Trump focused on an experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail from Regeneron that he received, saying he felt it was “key” to his recovery.
The president said he wasn’t feeling “so hot” when he checked into the hospital on Friday, but after he was given the treatment, which he said was called Regeneron, conflating it with the name of the company, he felt better almost “immediately.”
Trump promised to make the treatment, which has not yet been approved for use by the FDA, “free” for all Americans, without providing details.
The president said he believes Regeneron’s drug—which he claimed was administered to him at his own “suggestion”—to be a “cure,” not a “therapeutic,” as others in the medical community have correctly referred to it as: “To me it wasn’t therapeutic, it just made me better,” he said.
“I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it,” Trump said of contracting Covid-19 at the end of the clip, suggesting if he had not fallen ill, doctors would never have realized the effectiveness of the drug.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
Wednesday appeared to be the first time Trump acknowledged receiving treatment for Covid-19 that are not available to the general public, the New York Times reports. “I want everyone to be given the same treatment as your president,” Trump says.
KEY BACKGROUND
Regeneron has only shared initial data from trials of the antibody cocktail in a small number of patients. The company said it provided the drug to Trump’s doctors under a “compassionate use” request, which permits access to experimental medications for “immediately life-threatening conditions or serious diseases.” During the video, Trump called for the FDA to fast-track the approval process for the drug.
SURPRISING FACT
Trump’s medical team has not been totally transparent about their care of the president, but the president’s doctors say they gave Trump the drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the antiviral medication remdesivir, the corticosteroid dexamethasone, vitamin supplements zinc and vitamin D and supplemental oxygen to speed up his recovery from Covid-19. It’s a combination of drugs that has never been taken before.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
With his promotion of Regeneron’s experimental treatment, Trump appeared to be pivoting from prioritizing a vaccine, to promoting therapeutics. In the video, Trump said that getting therapeutics out to hospitals across the country now was “more important” than a vaccine. Vaccines would be available soon, Trump said, claiming a vaccine would be available before Election Day if “politics” wasn’t involved.
Forbes
