Did Trump Really Take Hydroxychloroquine?

At last, three minutes into his answer, after insisting that Schiff should have been thrown in jail, the president assumed an air of c’est-la-vie resignation.

“So, you know, that’s the way it goes. So you had a phony whistleblower.”

And then suddenly—no turn signals this time, just a screech of tires, the smell of rubber, another hard right turn, crossing multiple lanes of onrushing traffic: “And this other guy with the hydroxychloroquine—okay?—well, he—he went out and he’s the one that approved the hydroxychloroquine … The very important form, he signed it. Now, if he doesn’t believe in it, why would he sign it?”

Working journalists and proficient telepaths knew that by he, the president was referring to Rick Bright, a public-health official who was giving testimony to Congress about the emergency approval of hydroxychloroquine, an approval Bright himself had signed.

The president went on. “And a lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy. A lot of good things have come out. You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers …”

A slight pause. “I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it.”

Say what you want about members of the White House press corps. It is a sign of utmost professionalism that none of them, upon hearing the president say this, reeled backward in the manner of Ralph Kramden, exclaiming, “Homina, homina, homina …”

As for the president, the exchange revealed a quality of his that is too seldom remarked upon: his insouciance. When he becomes entranced by the sound of his own voice, lulled by the meanderings of his line of thought, his insouciance often leads him into saying things that are true—candid admissions that he then desperately tries to justify.

“The frontline workers,” he said, “many, many are taking it.”

And: “Frontline workers take it.”

And: “A lot of frontline workers are taking hydroxychloroquine.”

And: “Many frontline workers take it.”

Eventually he gave up and pretended that he’d meant to say it all along. “I would’ve told you that three, four days ago,” he told reporters, “but we never had a chance, because you never asked me the question.”

Of course, they hadn’t asked the question at that moment either. He had been asked about a tweet attacking whistleblowers, and we ended up in a place far, far away.

The next day, the newsletter writers at The New York Times were unimpressed. “Trump claims to be taking an unproven medication,” was their sly phrasing. The president’s press secretary appeared to take offense. “The president said himself he’s taking it,” she said. “The president should be taken at his word.”

In making my case for the president’s authenticity in that moment, I’ll be the first to admit it’s not conclusive. But arguing that Trump was telling the truth provides such a pleasant change of pace.