Stella Immanuel caused controversy earlier this year for promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the coronavirus.
Dr. Stella Immanuel, who President Trump previously called an “important voice” in medicine, tweeted Friday after the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis became public, saying whoever told him to stop taking hydroxychloroquine should be “punched in the face.”
Immanuel caused controversy earlier this year for promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the coronavirus, with the president retweeting some of her claims, calling it a "miracle drug" himself.
Several studies, however, have shown that the drug is ineffective for treatment of the virus. In June, the drug was revoked as an emergency treatment option by the Food and Drug Administration because they said it had no effect on the death rate of patients with COVID-19.
The FDA went on to say "reports of serious heart rhythm problems and other safety issues, including blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure," were found among patients with coronavirus who were treated with hydroxychloroquine.
In May, Trump claimed he had been taking the drug preventatively, despite it having no proven benefit for those with coronavirus. The drug is usually used to treat those with malaria.
“Whoever told the president to stop taking HCQ should be punched in the face. This did not have to happened,” Immanuel tweeted Friday. “I am so upset. This is our president for crying out loud. No one need to get sick or pcr positive. #HCQ4prevention"
She went on to say "everyone in the White House" should take hydroxychloroquine twice a month. "If your doctors will not prescribe it I will," she said.
Immanuel, along with other doctors donning white coats, went viral in July for speaking in a Breitbart video that has since been taken down from social media. The video was removed as fact-checkers said it spread dangerous misinformation, but not before Trump retweeted to his 84 million followers.
In the video, Immanuel claimed she successfully treated hundreds with hydroxychloroquine. She also claimed that masks weren’t necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“Nobody needs to get sick,” Immanuel said in the video. “This virus has a cure.”
Immanuel, pediatrician and religious minister based in Houston, has made other troublesome claims, such as the idea that gynecological problems are caused by sex with demons.
Immanuel refers to herself “a prophet of God to the nations” on her Facebook biography, which continues to list her accolades against “demonic forces.”
RELATED STORIES
