A recent New York Times article that portrayed President Donald Trump as potentially benefitting financially from promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine as a reliable treatment for coronavirus has been rated “Mostly false” by Snopes.
A Perfect Example of ‘Fake News’
On Tuesday, the New York Times published an article citing the president’s small financial stake in Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company that produces the anti-malaria drug, that has been touted by the President and some doctors as being effective in treating COVID-19.
But Trump’s personal stake in the company is only estimated to be around $100, while his net worth is believed to be between 3 and $4 billion.
Brutal day for The New York Times. The worst of the worst at The Washington Post, Vox, and Snopes were like "yeah that's a pretty ridiculous fake news narrative." pic.twitter.com/EmO1v8OMq4
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) April 8, 2020
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Fact checking organization Snopes declared, “Because Trump’s financial interest in Sanofi and other pharmaceutical companies is indirect and minor, and because hydroxychloroquine is an easily produced generic drug unlikely to drive profit, we rank the claim that his promotion of the drug could lead to potential financial benefits as ‘Mostly false.”
President Trump has repeatedly said hydroxychloroquine has shown a lot of promise and positive results for victims of coronavirus and waived FDA regulations last month to allow for rapid approval of the drug, which has been rated as the “most effective” treatment for the coronavirus by thousands of doctors.
Snopes rates the NYT article suggesting Trump gains financially from hydroxychloroquine as "mostly false" because his holdings in Sanofi are indirect and worth a few hundred dollars https://t.co/CVEQEyjDet
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) April 9, 2020
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Breaking Down What’s True and What’s False
Snopes detailed what was true and what was false about the NYT story.
“What’s True: U.S. President Donald Trump earns some income from three family trusts that are administered independently by J.P. Morgan, an investment bank and wealth-management firm,” Snopes observed. “These trusts are in part invested in mutual funds that themselves are partially invested in companies that produce hydroxychloroquine.”
https://twitter.com/DrNealHouston/status/1248200601412022272
“What’s False: Trump’s financial stake in these companies is virtually negligible — contained indirectly via mutual funds — and administered through three family trusts he does not control,” the fact-checker noted. “As a generic drug, hydroxychloroquine is unlikely to provide any one company with significant profits compared to other proprietary drugs.”