Trade representative Peter Navarro shouted at Tony Fauci as economist pushed unproven malaria drug

Donald Trump’s trade representative Peter Navarro revealed to have shouted at Tony Fauci as economist pushed unproven malaria drug at coronavirus task force meeting and falsely claimed there was ‘science’ behind its use

• Donald Trump’s economic advisor Peter Navarro and Dr. Anthony Fauci clashed during a coronavirus task force meeting Saturday 
• The two got into a disagreement over whether the administration should tout the use of malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to treat coronavirus 
• Navarro said ‘the studies that he’s seen, I believe they’re mostly overseas, show ‘clear therapeutic efficacy,” a source familiar with the meeting revealed

By Katelyn Caralle, U.s. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com

Published: 13:58 BST, 6 April 2020 | Updated: 14:15 BST, 6 April 2020

Anthony Fauci and Donald Trump’s economic advisor Peter Navarro clashed Saturday on whether the White House should push the use of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, to treat coronavirus, according to four sources familiar with the conversation.

The head-to-head exchange, according to a Sunday report from Axios, during a coronavirus task force meeting in the Situation Room Saturday afternoon after Navarro, who is coordinating the implementation of the Defense Production Act, boasted there was science to back up the drug’s effectiveness on treating coronavirus.

Toward the end of the meeting, one of the sources told Axios, Commissioner of the Food and Drugs Administration Stephen Hahn began a discussion on hydroxychloroquine – giving an update about the malaria drug and the results of different trials and real-world implementation.

Navarro, an economist not a scientist, then jumped in, adding he felt the drug was proven effective – and he claims he is qualified to weigh in on the matter because he’s a social scientist. 

‘And the first words out of his mouth are that the studies that he’s seen, I believe they’re mostly overseas, show ‘clear therapeutic efficacy,” a source familiar with the conversation said. ‘Those are the exact words out of his mouth.’

His comments sparked a heated exchange about what the messaging on the drug from the administration should look like. 

Donald Trump’s economic advisor Peter Navarro (left) and Dr. Anthony Fauci (right) clashed during a coronavirus task force meeting Saturday when discussing the use of a malaria drug to treat coronavirus

Navarro is pushing for the administration to tout hydroxychloroquine, an antmalarial drug, as effective medicine for treating coronavirus, while Fauci claims the tests on the drug are only anecdotal

 

Public health officials, including Fauci, 79, have stressed that hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness in treating COVID-19 are unproven and that more data is needed, but Trump has said the drug could be a ‘game changer.’

Fauci, the federal government’s top immunologist and expert on infectious diseases, pushed back against Navarro, the sources described. He claimed international studies, like ones from France and China, are inadequate because there were no control groups.

When Fauci claimed the evidence was anecdotel, it ‘just set Peter off,’ one of the sources said.

‘That’s science, not anecdote,’ one of the sources quoted Navarro, claiming he raised his voice and pointed to a stack of folders on the desk, which included printouts of studies on the drug.

Navarro has been trying to source hydroxychloroquine from around the world as part of his role as coordinator of implementing Defense Production Act policy.

Trump announced last Thursday that he was invoking the Defense Production Act to help clear up supply-chain issues with manufacturing ventilators and producing additional N95 face masks.

The president put Navarro in charge of coordinating those efforts.

During an impromptu White House press briefing Sunday evening, Trump stopped Fauci from answering a question from a reporter about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine.

When reporters tried to get Fauci’s opinion on the drug – after he previously warned against seeing the malaria medication as a wonder drug – Trump stepped in and stopped the question.

‘We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. And hopefully in the not-too-distant future we’ll be very proud of the job we all did,’ Trump said, instead of letting Fauci answer.

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