WH Adviser Cites ‘Dilbert’ Cartoonist While Boosting Hydroxychloroquine

White House Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director Peter Navarro speaks during the daily briefing on COVID-19 at the White House on March 22, 2020. (Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Health professionals widely agree that hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug President Donald Trump claims to be a cure for COVID-19, has not been proven to effectively treat the virus.

But have they considered that the pro-Trump cartoonist who came up with a joke about “brain golfing” says otherwise?

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro brought up “Dilbert” comic creator Scott Adams on Wednesday night after CNN anchor Erin Burnett called out Navarro’s “irresponsible” comments hyping hydroxychloroquine.

“Scott Adams—you know Scott Adams, right? He’s the guy who wrote the ‘Dilbert’ cartoon–he did a beautiful video, a 10-minute video, on Twitter,” Navarro told Burnett. “And the thesis of the video is that CNN might be killing thousands because of the way they’ve treated that.”

“So…I’ll let Scott Adams’ video be my defense on this,” he continued.

Burnett was less than convinced.

“Can I just say something?” the anchor asked. “I find that to be offensive because he’s a comic strip writer.”

Watch Navarro below:

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for danny danny says:

    We’re reached Peak Navarro.

  2. Peter Navrro, a man of many words and no real information

  3. “I saw a meme! So suck it, CNN.”

  4. Idiots on all sides of this one, I’m afraid.

  5. I’ll let the epidemiologists be my defense, you hack.

    Why is a “trade advisor” even weighing in on this? Can we please stop putting a camera in his face? Seriously, please stop asking this man for his thoughts.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

77 more replies

Participants

Avatar for valgalky23 Avatar for paulw Avatar for sysprog Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for danny Avatar for quin Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for dickweed Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for fuadreviez Avatar for maximus Avatar for joce_m Avatar for qwerty23 Avatar for justruss Avatar for 19tibekius6 Avatar for evave2 Avatar for swampsofjersey Avatar for txlawyer Avatar for ClutchCargo

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: