Peter Navarro, the director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, sparred with a CNN host Wednesday morning about a coronavirus treatment, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and a doctor who has promoted radical views.
During an appearance on CNN's "New Day," Navarro and co-host John Berman had a testy back and forth for nearly 20 minutes on a variety of topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After talking about a deal with Kodak to provide vaccine materials, the discussion got a bit heated.
Berman brought up the fact that President Donald Trump promoted the work of Dr. Stella Immanuel, who said face masks are not needed in the coronavirus fight and hydroxychloroquine can "cure" the virus. But she has also talked about alien DNA being used in vaccines and scientists trying to stop people from practicing their religion through vaccine development, according to The Daily Beast.
On CNN Wednesday, Berman tried to get Navarro to comment on the controversial claims but he wouldn't budge. Mediaite posted the interview in its entirety.
"I have absolutely nothing to say about that," Navarro said. "I know nothing about her. And if you want to use me as a prop to play her clips …"
Berman then changed the conversation to the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, which many doctors — including Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — have said does not work.
"I stand by it," Navarro said. "I'm sitting on millions of doses of it."
When Berman played a clip of Fauci saying that the drug has not been proven to have much of an effect on the virus, Navarro lobbed some attacks at him.
"Back in January, when I said there was probably going to be a pandemic and Dr. Fauci there wasn't, who was right?" Navarro said, referencing two interviews in which Fauci said there was "nothing to worry about" at the time but that things could change.
"In February when I said that we could maybe get a vaccine by the end of the year, and Dr. Fauci was on ABC News saying it would take a year, a year and a half to develop and another year and a half to manufacture, who looks like they're going to be right on that?" Navarro continued.
Berman said, "Do you think you're more right on the science than Dr. Anthony Fauci?"
"Globally, no," Navarro responded. "But certainly — you said this on the show. It was ironic that the doctor of economics actually had the pandemic right, and the doctor of medicine didn't."
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