Trump again pushes unproven drug as COVID-19 treatment

A week after appearing to project a more serious tone about coronavirus, President Donald Trump is back to pushing unproven claims that an anti-malaria drug is an effective treatment and challenging credibility of nation's leing infectious disease expert.

Dr Anthony Fauci pushed back Tuesday, saying he will keep doing his job.

Numerous studies, meanwhile, have shown that drug, hydroxychloroquine, is t an effective treatment for COVID-19, disease caused by coronavirus . And U.S. Food and Drug ministration recently withdrew an order that allowed drug's use as a emergency treatment for COVID-19.

Yet overnight, after returning from a trip to rth Carolina where he promoted efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, Trump retweeted a series of tweets vocating for hydroxychloroquine.

president also shared a post from Twitter account for a podcast hosted by Steve Bann, a former top White House viser to Trump, accusing Fauci of misleing public over hydroxychloroquine.

Fauci, a leing member of White House coronavirus task force, pushed back Tuesday during an appearance on ABC's “Good Morning America.”

“I go along with FDA,” said Fauci, longtime director of National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. " overwhelming prevailing clinical trials that have looked at efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is t effective in coronavirus disease.”

It's t first time Fauci has come under attack from Trump and those close to him.

president's top tre viser, Peter Navarro, who has clashed with Fauci over hydroxychloroquine, recently penned a scathing attack on doctor that was published by USA Today. newspaper later said opinion piece did t meet its standards .

In recent nationally televised interviews, Trump himself has described Fauci as “a bit of an alarmist” and accused him of making “mistakes” in his coronavirus guidance to American people.

Asked if he can continue to do his job when Trump continues to publicly question his credibility, Fauci said Tuesday he'll press ahe “ matter what" because of stakes involved.

“I don’t tweet. I don’t even re m, so I don’t really want to go re,” Fauci said. “I just will continue to do my job matter what comes out because I think it’s very important. We’re in middle of a crisis with regard to an epidemic, a pandemic. This is what I do. This is what I’ve been trained for my entire professional life and I’ll continue to do it.”

Asked about claims he's been misleing public, Fauci said: “I have t been misleing American public under any circumstances.”