Several weeks ago we began to hear encouraging news out of France about a combination of two commonly prescribed drugs: hydroxychloroquine (an anti-malarial) and azithromycin (an antibiotic). When used together, it seemed they might actually help patients recover rapidly from COVID-19.

You’d think that in these bleak times THAT would be roundly received as excellent news. After all, what’s better medicine than a dose of hope in a time of pandemic?

But no sooner had President Trump said that he was encouraged by this development and optimistic that it would be a game changer, than crepe-hangers in the press emerged.

They mocked the president for daring to be hopeful. They focused on doctors who had expressed skepticism because they were waiting to see clinical studies. There’s nothing inherently oppositional about those points of view, except the way they were presented in the news.

Then the press discovered gold: A dead man and his critically ill wife.

When a couple in Phoenix decided to swallow fish tank cleaner because it contained a form of hydroxychloroquine, news outlets quickly linked this profoundly stupid act to the president.

“Man Dead, Wife Critically Ill After Taking Additive Found in Anti-Malaria Drug Touted By Trump as Coronavirus Treatment,” The Virginian-Pilot.

“Arizona Man Dies After Taking Chemical in Coronavirus Treatment Touted By President Trump,” TIME magazine.

“A Man Died After Self-Medicating With a Form Of A Drug That Trump Promoted As A Potential Treatment For The Coronavirus, “ Buzzfeed.

“Arizona Man Dies, Wife Ill After Taking Drug Touted As Virus Treatment: ‘Trump Said It Was Pretty Much A Cure’,” CBS News.

“Man Dies After Taking Drug Touted By Trump As COVID-19 Treatment,” The Daily Missoulian. 

Appalling. Every damn one of them.

Notice that while every headline mentioned Trump not a single headline mentioned that these two consumed fish tank cleaner - chloroquine phosphate - which comes with a warning: NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

These aren’t simply misleading. They border on malicious.

The president didn’t tell anyone to drink out of a fishbowl. And he wasn’t the only one touting the drugs as a treatment for COVID-19. There were published reports of this promising development several weeks before the president mentioned it in public.

It’s worth noting that Gov. Andrew Cuomo shares Trump’s optimism about the drugs. Trials began in New York hospitals on Tuesday.

Look,  the story of this Arizona man is a sad one. He and his wife made a fatal mistake. But the blame is all theirs.

Fortunately, the wife is recovering. Unfortunately, according to The Daily Mail, she blames Trump for her husband’s death.

We all know where this is headed.

A lawsuit, perhaps. Salacious interviews on MSNBC and CNN. Shoot, if this lady is seething with just the right amount of anger she could land her own show.