House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-NY) brought up President Donald Trump’s weight on Monday night in response to his claim that he had been taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to protect himself from COVID-19 (the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has urged non-health professionals to abstain from using the drug, which has not been proven to treat the virus).
“As far as the President is concerned…he’s our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group–morbidly obese, they say,” Pelosi told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
“So I think it’s not a good idea,” she continued.
When a reporter asked Trump on Tuesday about Pelosi’s comment, the President called the House speaker “a waste of time.”
“I don’t respond to her,” he said.
On Monday, Trump told reporters that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine and zinc for the past couple of weeks amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“And all I can tell you is, so far I seem to be okay,” he said.
The President and his allies have repeatedly peddled the drug as a miracle cure to COVID-19 despite the fact that large scale studies have not proved it to be effective treatment for the virus.
In fact, the FDA has warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine, citing “reports of serious heart rhythm problems” caused by the drug.
On Monday, Trump pointed to him supposedly getting “a lot of positive calls” about the drug as evidence of its efficacy.
Watch Pelosi below:
Pelosi calls Trump "morbidly obese." pic.twitter.com/FJqFlXPxGN
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) May 19, 2020
