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WASHINGTON, D.C., July 29, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that he does not “know why” a video viewed millions of times featuring doctors championing hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment for the coronavirus was removed from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on Monday.
“There was a group of doctors yesterday, a large group that were put on the Internet, and for some reason, the Internet wanted to take them down and took them off,” said Trump at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I guess Twitter took them off and I think Facebook took them off. I don’t know why. I think they’re very respected doctors.”
READ: Google, Facebook, Twitter shut down ‘frontline’ US doctors who promote ‘cure for COVID’
The banned video was originally posted by Breitbart News, and removed from all of Breitbart’s social media networks (despite going viral), for allegedly violating Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube’s respective COVID-19 “misinformation” policies.
The group was in D.C. for its “White Coat Summit” event, which was organized and sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). It kicked off Monday with a full-day agenda and finished up yesterday.
Trump came under fire for sharing clips of the doctors’ group video with his followers, which prompted Twitter to remove them from his account.
At the Tuesday press conference, Trump said that many doctors think the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved-drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), when combined with zinc and azithromycin, is “extremely successful” and that he “believes in it.”
“Many doctors think it’s extremely good, and some people don’t. Some people — I think it’s become very political,” said Trump
“I happen to believe in it. I would take it. As you know, I took it for a 14-day period, and I’m here. Right? I’m here. I happen to think it’s — it works in the early stages. I think frontline medical people believe that too — some, many. And so we’ll take a look at it.”
“It — it’s safe. It doesn’t cause problems. I had no problem. I had absolutely no problem, felt no different. Didn’t feel good, bad, or indifferent. I — and I tested, as you know. It didn’t — it didn’t get me, and it’s not going to hopefully hurt anybody.”
HCQ is used mainly to treat malaria and has been the source of much debate and speculation when it comes to treating the coronavirus. It was heavily talked about at the doctors’ Monday press conference.
America’s Frontline Doctors was founded by Dr. Simone Gold, who according to her website is a “board-certified emergency physician Stanford educated attorney.”
The doctors’ Monday press conference saw Gold say they held the summit because “the American people have not heard from all the expertise that’s out there all across our country. We do have some experts speaking, but there’s lots and lots of experts across the country.”
Early on in the coronavirus crisis, some studies showed that HCQ could be an effective treatment against COVID-19. However, a study published by the medical journal The Lancet said researchers had found “no benefit” to using the drug, adding that it “decreased in-hospital survival and an increased frequency of ventricular arrhythmias.”
This study prompted many world governments to decide to ban or restrict HCQ for treating COVID-19 patients.
The Lancet was forced to retract its study, however, after revelations from the newspaper The Guardian raised significant doubts about the credibility of the source material.
During Monday’s doctors’ press conference, Dr. Stella Immanuel, who has a valid doctor’s licence according to the Texas Medical Board, claimed that hydroxychloroquine helped her treat her COVID-19 patients.
“I’m here because I have personally treated over 350 patients with COVID[.] … I put them on hydroxychloroquine, I put them on zinc, I put them on Zithromax, and they’re all well,” claimed Immanuel.
“And today I’m here to say it, that America, there is a cure for COVID. All this foolishness does not need to happen. There is a cure for COVID. There is a cure for COVID is called hydroxychloroquine. It’s called zinc. It’s called Zithromax.”
Dr. Stella Immanuel, also a pastor and the founder of Fire Power Ministries in Houston, has been criticized for sermons that, among other things, include mention of alien DNA being used in medical treatments, a vaccine to prevent people from being religious, and blaming medical conditions on demons and witches.
The doctors’ website was taken offline Monday, not long after their press conference.
Gold confirmed via her Twitter page yesterday that their hosting provider Squarespace shut them down for violating their “Acceptable Use Policy.”
“WOW: Our website host @Squarespace has just completely and arbitrarily shut down our website, claiming a violation of their terms of service. We are a group of physicians advocating for a better understanding of COVID-19 and its available treatment options. This is outrageous,” tweeted Gold.
In her tweet, Gold shared a screenshot of the correspondence she was sent from Squarespace, which said the site was “in violation of Section 3.1 of our Acceptable Use Policy regarding activity that’s false, fraudulent, inaccurate or deceiving.”
Despite being offline, portions of the site can still be viewed at the internet archive site Wayback.
In another tweet sent out yesterday, Gold mentioned on Twitter that the group met with Vice President Mike Pence to ask his administration for help in prescribing HCQ “without political obstruction.”
“UPDATE: We have just met with Vice President Mike Pence to request the administration’s assistance in empowering doctors to prescribe hydroxychloroquine without political obstruction. We also discussed the recent censorship of doctors on social media platforms. #WhiteCoatSummit,” tweeted Gold.
Yesterday, America’s Frontline Doctors held another press conference on Capitol Hill, in which they addressed the censorship of their Monday press conference.
“We’re back to say the exact same message that we said yesterday, and that is, Americans have reason to hope when it comes to COVID-19,” said Jenny Beth Martin who is the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots.
“There are treatment options available. We know much more about this virus now then we did when it first hit our shores. There are options available to help prevent it, there are options available in the early phase of the virus.”
Source: https://www.lifesitenews.com