Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse



White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is leading a Trump administration effort to demand the Food and Drug Administration reverse course and grant a second emergency authorization for the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Navarro, armed with a new study that he says shows the drug’s effectiveness, is being cheered on by President Trump, who has long touted the drug as a “game changer” and even used it himself as a possible preventive measure. Trump praised the study on Twitter this week, urging the FDA to “Act Now.” The campaign also has been promoted by Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, and Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News.

But Navarro, an economist known more for his aggressive approach to trade issues and China policy than for his medical credentials, faces serious challenges as he denounces what he calls “media-induced hydroxy hysteria.” Scientists have widely criticized the new study, by Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System, as flawed. In addition, just weeks ago the FDA revoked its emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine after major studies found the medication wasn’t effective for covid-19. And the unexpected revival of a politically fraught issue comes as FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn tries to shake off criticism he sometimes seems overly deferential to Trump.

“A reversal [on hydroxychloroquine] would be widely seen as bending to the political will of the White House, and the hit to Dr. Hahn’s credibility would be profound,” said Steven Joffe, a medical ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania.

The FDA’s response to this pressure will be closely watched, not only because the White House has already been criticized for pushing to influence the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for the pandemic but also because the agency will take the lead in approving a vaccine for the coronavirus, a decision that could potentially affect millions. Health experts say it is important for the agency, which was criticized for its initial decision to okay hydroxychloroquine in March, to guard its credibility as it prepares to make these landmark decisions for a public sometimes skeptical of vaccines.

The tug-of-war on hydroxychloroquine also is seen by many as a test for Hahn. ...
 


I first reported on Trump in 1982, when he conned me into putting him on the Forbes 400 rich list. That Trump was just a younger version of this Trump, and now I worry that what happened in June was a mere prelude; he’s certainly capable of a far worse Reichstag-fire-like event that would allow him to steal the 2020 election. And if he does win a second term, legitimately or not, his words and actions of the past four years provide 12 indicators that he would seek to replace our democracy with a fascist dictatorship.

1. Trump uses military power and federal law enforcement to suppress peaceful political protest. ...

2. Trump persistently lies about voter fraud, setting the stage for him to use emergency powers to seize control of the election or challenge the results if he loses. ...

3. Trump has repeatedly suggested that he might remain in office after a second term and has offered reason to doubt he’d leave peacefully after this first term. ...

4. Trump appears to believe he has the power to outlaw speech critical of him, and he calls the free press “the enemy of the people.” ...

5. With Fox News promoting Trump’s lies as truth, the president controls one of the most powerful propaganda machines ever created. ...

6. Trump believes that he has the power to do what he wants, regardless of Congress or the courts. ...

7. Trump acts as if he owns our government and can fire any official who defends the law. ...

8. Trump uses federal prosecutorial powers to investigate his opponents and anyone who dares scrutinize him or his allies for the many crimes they may have committed. ...

9. Trump viciously attacks his critics and has publicly implied that the Ukraine whistleblower should be hanged for treason.
...

10. Trump has messianic delusions that are supported with religious fervor by millions of his supporters. ...

11. Trump subscribes to a doctrine of genetic superiority and incites racial hatred to scapegoat immigrants and gain power. ...

12. Trump finds common ground with the world’s most ruthless dictators while denigrating America’s democratic allies. ...
 
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